Summer Home
by Cyclops is Right
Summary: A collection of one-shots about the Summer Home (minus what Hickman is trying to do with Wolverine because I disagree.) For now, the Summers are trying to be a happy family living on the blue side of the moon after all the hardships they faced. Mostly fluff and humour. (Feel free to give me prompts in PM.) Obvious spoiler warning, cover art by me.
1. Prelude

Scott Summers, the man known as Cyclops looks out towards the view of their new home on the moon. They have been living here for a few days now and it's still as breathtaking as the first time he's seen it.

It was a wonderful view of Earth and the sheer scale made him feel small. Like nothing they could ever do match the importance of this massive planet before him. But big things were happening, the mutants have created a sovereign nation, the cure to anything, and the most magnificent of all… departed friends have now joined them.

Scott sighs with content, sometimes he couldn't help but see the world through rose tinted glasses (not accounting for the literal fact that he perceived the world in hues of red; the circumstance amuses him.) Right now he's never felt better, he's now the best person he can be. No more fighting with his fellow X-Man and no more being afraid.

His wife Jean soon joins him, glancing towards the view.

"You sure picked one helluva place to live." she comments as her eyes sparkle with amusement. She looks towards him and traces his strong jawline. She was curious as to what he was thinking about since Scott has always been a closed off man. Easily she could peruse his thoughts, especially with the psychic rapport they share, but she liked to hear it out of his own mouth.

"It's wonderful." Scott simply says as he keeps his eyes fixated on the Earth.

Jean nods in agreement, "It sure is."

"No, I mean, you're wonderful." he reiterates, turning towards her. Scott closes the small distance between him and his wife and embraces her. Jean gives an airy laugh at the sudden affection and leans her head on his chest. "Well, you only tell me so often." she states through her laughter.

"I mean it." he puts firmly, and despite himself hr smiles. "You want to know why I picked this place?"

Jean gives a slight shrug in his embrace. "I have a faint idea, but go ahead."

"Because… you have died here. It had caused me so much pain and agony to lose you. Once I had thought I lost everything as a boy, but losing you was a tragedy I could not take… I broke." Scott laments, his tone laden with sadness.

Jean frowns at his loss and hugs him tighter. It happened so long ago but her deaths were always a painful reminder to both of them.

"You know," Scott continues, "when I had died and Nathan brought me back… I asked him why he did it. At first, he refused to give me an answer and I kept pressing. I felt it was wrong to live after what I had done and yet… when he finally snapped he told me that my death wasn't right. I shouldn't have died to the terrigen mist, I was a leader and I was needed."

"Of course, I saw right through that because at that point Nathan threw the table and started sobbing. My heart wrenched at the sight. I understood that Nathan loved me and he just wanted his father. I couldn't blame him, so I told him I would've done the same for someone I loved and of course, that meant you."

Touched by his words, Jean tilts her head up and places a soft kiss on Scott's lips. "Now we're all here and there no what that we're going to lose each other this time." she reassures, searching his visor for his eyes. "Me, you, Nathan, Rachel… we'll all be a family."

"For once." Scott remarks sardonically.

"Oh hush," Jean kisses him again, "you were always a great father. It was just the circumstance. Remember when we were sent to the future to raise Nathan? I recall an overprotective father carrying his son _and _his wife through the desert, never giving up on either of them."

Scott chuckles a bit, "Okay okay." He goes in for a more sensual kiss before their daughter Rachel walks in on them.

"Mom, dad, Uncle Gabriel's almost done burning dinner again. This time he almost set Uncle Alex on fire." she says before stopping in her tracks. "Oh, hope I'm not interrupting something."

Quickly her parents untangle themselves from each other.

"Not at all," Jean smiles, "we were just about to join you all."

Rachel sighs with relief, "Great because I don't want to sit through grandpa's same old story about him becoming Corsair alone again."

The normality of the comment made Scott's heart flutter. Here he was, listening to his daughter complain about his dad. In a wacked up family called the Summers, a lifetime ago this would have been a dream. Now, they are living it.

"Alright, we'll save you from grandpa and possibly save Alex from being lit on fire." Scott jokes as he loops arms with Jean.

For a moment, Rachel takes it in before dashing over and tackle-hugging her parents. It was somewhat unlike Rachel, since she had grown into a mature young lady but it was comforting.

"I love you guys." the girl says, getting all emotional.

"Love you too Rach-"

"Wait." Jean says, cutting Scott off, "Someone is missing from this group hug."

She then uses her telepathy to reach out to Nathan.

_"Nathan Christopher Charles, get in here."_

Nathan psychically groans in response.

_"Oh great, am I in trouble? Look, I don't know what Rachel told you but I didn't do anything." _he replies, making his way over.

The boy enters, ruffing up his hair. "So here's the thing-" he starts, trying to generate an excuse. Jean simply ignores it and uses her telekinesis to force him into the group hug.

"Um." Nathan adjusts his face so that it wouldn't be squished by his dad's shoulder. "What are we all sappy for?"

"No reason." Jean states.

Content, Nathan simply accepts that. "Okay." he says, closing his eyes.

There they are. The man known as Cyclops, the woman formerly known as Phoenix, the girl known as Prestige, and the boy known as Cable. What a sight to behold, perhaps even more magnificent than the sight of the Earth behind them.

They stand there in silence, enjoying each other's company before joining the rest of their crazy family for dinner.


	2. Grandad

Wandering the empty halls of the Summer Home, Nathan Summers quickly finds himself bored. Both of his parents were having a meeting with the Council, and his sister would be the last company he would seek. Rachel always found a way to belittle him and he wasn't about that.

He would go and seek out his uncles but Gabriel had a few screws loose and Alex was probably trying to reconcile with a certain Miss Lorna Dane.

With a huff, Nathan sinks into a seat at the dining room table. As he does so, the bridge portal opens and Corsair enters.

"Why the long face champ?" he asks, glancing around to see that Nathan was the only one there. Before arriving, Corsair had dealt with the New Mutants stealing his alcohol supply and he had gone out to retrieve it.

Nathan gives a defeated shrug in response. "I just need to shoot something."

"Really now?" Corsair chuckles and spins both of his blasters in his hands before laying them on the table. "Yeah," Nathan's lip twitches ruefully, "everyone's busy and I haven't got any missions yet."

Corsair takes the seat opposite of him and folds his hands. "Maybe we could go shooting together." the older man offers. He never really got to spend time with his grandson, especially not when Cable was the older version of himself. (It was the most strange time to be a Summers, not that it ever mattered.) Corsair would love to get to know Nathan better and in turn, Nathan could get to know his grandad just as well.

"I mean, I was just joking really." Nathan replies as he idly taps his fingers on the table.

Corsair strokes his mustache and studies the boy in front of him. He could see much of Scott's features in him from the primary brown color of Nathan's hair to the structure of his face. He still had a hard time believing he was a grandfather, let alone a great grandfather with Hope Summers being one of The Five.

"Let me tell you what son," Corsair states, beginning a preposition, "d'you know where your father was born?"

Nathan presses his lips into a thin line as he tries to recall. "Er, no. No one ever told me."

Corsair smiles, "It was Alaska, the good ole Final Frontier."

Curious as to where his grandad was going with this, Nathan tilts his head to the side. "What about it?" he asks.

_Perfect. _

"Well, right about this time up north, killer whales will migrate towards there. I used to take Katherine and the kids every now and then to see 'em." Corsair explains, drawing an imaginary line with his finger.

"Katherine…?"

"Katherine, my late wife. Your grandmother."

Nathan's stomach twists, "Oh."

Corsair places a reassuring hand on the boy's arm. "It's okay. I miss her like hell but I've learned to let her go."

"Right, Hephzibah."

Corsair then shakes his head, "Not even, just the anger associated with losing her."

Feeling more awkward about reading the situation, Nathan promptly shuts up.

"Don't worry about it." Corsair stands up and pats Nathan's shoulder. "Come on boy, we're going whale watching!"

Nathan gives a crooked grin. His grandad had a way of eating spirits. "Is Rachel coming?"

Corsair scoffs and waves his hand dismissively. "Tch, let's leave this as a grandad-grandson activity. I can take her another time." he winks cheekily, grabbing his guns from the table.

Following Corsair's lead, the two take a portal towards their location. With the aid of the orchids it was a short trip, and even then the two had to acquire a boat to take out to sea.

Once they were out there, Nathan had occupied the starboard side of the vessel desperately trying to spot these killer whales. It was the child-like kind of wonder that could warm an emotionally distant space pirate's heart. If someone told Corsair twenty-some years ago that he'll be taking his mutant gun-slinging, sparkler eye having, time traveling grandson out places- he would have laughed out loud. The other nonsense that is the Summers family aside, it was quite nice.

The sea breeze was cool and the air was salty. _Almost like old times with Scott and Alex._

Nathan squints until he sees a darkened form breach the surface of the water. "Grandad, grandad look!" he exclaims, pointing a finger. He looks back at Corsair with a boyish grin.

Chuckling at his excitement, Corsair goes over and joins him. "Keep watching, they usually travel in a line."

Turning back, Nathan sees the entire orca family swimming together and breaching up for air.

Nathan whistles with awe. "This is pretty great grandpa. Rach' doesn't know what she's missing." Even coming from the future and venturing through space, it was the little things. Especially if he got to spend it with his totally awesome grandad.

"There's always a next time kiddo. Besides, you don't know what she and I do when we hang out without you." Corsair jokes.

"You _what?"_

Corsair ruffles Nathan's hair good-naturedly. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah okay." Nathan snorts as he tries to fix his do but the wind wouldn't allow it. Letting it be, Nathan simply breathes in the atmosphere. "This is great." he echoes.

Corsair nods in agreement, bearing a smile. "Sure is. Your father and uncle grew up here mostly. Maybe I can take you to Hawaii next time- where Alex was born- to watch some dolphins."

"And no Rachel?"

"And no Rachel, just me and you kid."

Nathan playfully elbows his grandad. "I like the sound of that."


	3. Breakfast

Alex Summers woke up to the smell of burning food that morning. Must mean that it's Gabriel's turn to make breakfast. _Great. _

With a groan, Alex rolls out of bed and forces himself to get ready for the day. Shower, hair, get dressed, brush teeth, and admire self in the mirror. _Yikes._ Adjusting one's circadian rhythm to match that of the moon left you looking rough in the morning. _That's okay though, _Alex reassures himself. He shoots finger guns at his reflection. _That's the Summers spirit… I guess. _

Apparently a large number of the household was also awoken by Vulcan's terrible cooking.

"Yeesh, why did we let him handle meals again?" Alex asks aloud to no one in particular.

"Because-" his brother Scott answers, looking like hell, "we take turns around here."

Alex snorts, "Well maybe we should exclude Gabe from that."

Jean, who was at Scott's side, levitated the curlers out of her hair. "That's not very nice Alex, what if he hears y-" before the woman could finish, she gets cut off by her daughter's shrill yell from across the hall.

"NATE, YOU BETTER NOT USE ALL OF THE HOT WATER!"

_"Rachel if you must, please use your 'inside' voice." _Jean prompts telepathically.

_"Sorry mom, but Nathan blocked me out again."_

"SORRY RACH', MAYBE YOU SHOULD GET UP EARLIER!" comes Nathan's sudden comeback, followed by the sound of a slamming door.

Jean gives an exasperated sigh and looks at her husband in defeat.

Alex slowly whistles in mock astonishment, "And this is why I don't have any kids."

For a moment, Jean looks as if she was going to kill him but Scott holds her back. "C'mon Jean, we've got to salvage an edible amount of breakfast." Together the two depart with Alex following in suit.

"Ah, family you have awoken." Gabriel greets, speaking in the strange way that he does. It was a fairly new development and it almost made him sound like Thor.

The man lays out their plates of food at everyone's respective seating. "Come sit, breakfast is ready."

_"Breakfast" _consisted of charred bacon and overcooked pancakes and… something that seemed to be eggs but no one was too sure.

Alex poked at the burnt substances with his fork and hives Gabriel a questioning expression. "Why are you like this…?" he asks.

Gabriel returns the expression with one of ignorance. "Like what?"

Alex shrugs and motions towards the ruined food with grandeur. "Oh I don't know… why do you always burn the food when it's your turn to cook something?"

Gabriel chuckles a bit, "Why, it is the flame inside of me."

"Uh-hunh…" Alex narrows his eyes, "You always say that."

"I do."

_Silence ensues. _

"Well." Jean states. "We clearly cannot consume any of this, so how about we go down to Krakoa and have a nice _edible_ breakfast with Charles."

The family murmur their compliance with the exception of Gabriel who wore a tight frown.

"Great." Jean smiles, "Meeting adjourned, the council has decided."

"But-" Gabriel attempts a protest but everyone collectively got up and abandoned his cooking. "Aw."

Alex drapes an arm over his brother's shoulder. "Chin up Gabe." he reassures, and when Gabriel cocks a brow, he elaborates. "No one's going to have a fit."

"I tried really hard on that." Gabriel whines, hurt by everyone's words. Though, whether or not that was true would have to be on him. Sometimes he just burnt food for the sake of it. _Because he's Vulcan _or some nonsense like that.

"Yeah well, between the two of us, I hope there's not a next time." Alex teases, giving Gabriel a playful shove. "C'mon, no time to waste. I'm _famished."_


	4. Sibling Rivalry

Attempting to evade his sister's wrath, Nathan Summers dove into his room and slam locked the door shut.

"You know very well that a door can't stop a telekinetic!" Rachel protests, levitating herself over. She was upset because Nathan kept leaving his guns everywhere and she was sick of cleaning up after him. So after this last time, she started to toss his guns after him with her telekinesis.

"Well sis, these doors happen to be electronic so that means-" Nathan keeps the door shut with his technopathy and if he kept at it hard enough, even Rachel can't bust through.

The door jostles with Rachel's attempts. "If you think you're stronger than me, then you are awfully mistaken little brother!"

"Y'know, I've been thinking, if you aren't born in this timeline yet… doesn't that make me the older brother?" Nathan teases, elating his tone to make her even more annoyed.

Rachel growls in response. "Sonuva…"

Before she could even finish that statement, their mother Jean Grey walks by and gives her a questioning look. It was as if she prompted Rachel to even dare continue.

_"... Clone-"_

Jean gasps, "Rachel!"

The woman uses her telekinesis to remove Rachel out from the doorway and pry open the door despite Nathan's efforts to keep it shut. "What are you two on about this time?" she asks, pulling Nathan out into the hallway.

The siblings began to speak out once, prompting Jean to put up her hands to silence them. "What is up with you two? Rachel you're an adult and should be mature enough to handle your brother's antics. Nathan, stop trying to annoy your sister I expect better from you."

Rachel looks down in slight shame, "Sorry mother."

Nathan doesn't say anything until his sister gives him a swift mental kick. "Oh- sorry mom."

Jean sighs. At some point she had given up any thought of normalcy compared to that of a regular non-superpowered human family. Especially since her daughter wasn't more than a few years younger than her and that one of her sons was an old man for the longest time. Now, he was a teenager and with that came teenage problems. It was somewhat refreshing with the new mentality since the last time she raised Cable in the future he had only been a kid.

But what she would give to just have a _baby_. Ironically, Jean had never given birth to any of her children. What a riot.

"Just… try not to use your powers on each other like that?" Jean asks as a compromise.

The siblings exchange uncertain glances with each other.

"Please?" Jean searches their expressions for some kind of confirmation. "At least your father and Uncle Alex's powers don't work on each other, and your Uncle Gabriel could easily evade their powers with his own. You two are different, please… just don't hurt yourselves."

Rachel rolls her eyes and gives a reassuring smile, "Mom please we're X-men, I've been on Excalibur and Nathan has been on X-Force. Together we've seen some horrific futures. I'm sure we can handle each other."

Jean swallows her "mother henning" and embraces her two kids. "Alright alright. But if I catch either of you throwing guns at each other again, don't think I won't ground you."

"Since when have you ever done that?" Nathan asks with an air of disbelief. Come to think of it, Jean had never grounded either of them. Even if Rachel was an adult now.

"You're right. Doesn't stop me from starting now, especially you young man." Jean states, gathering a bit of Nathan's cheek between her fingers.

"What? _Me?"_

Jean pulls away and places her hands on her hips. "Nathan Christopher Charles Summers Askani'son Dayspring-"

"Okay! Okay… just-" Nathan puts his hands up in self defense. _"Please_ don't ever use my full name again." he says, shooting Rachel a glare for snickering.

Rachel covers her mouth to stifle her laughter, "Pfft- Christopher Charles…"

"Yeah." Nathan narrows his eyes at his mom, "Who's bright idea was that?"

Jean brushes off the question, "Don't ask me, ask your father."

With that, she head away leaving the kids to their own devices.

"... _Dayspring-"_

Nathan elbows his sister, "Oh shut it Rach'."


	5. Family Tree

"What exactly am I witnessing here?" Scott asks, watching as his two kids clip photos to a sapling.

"Making a family tree." Rachel supplies, "We're curious as to why Mr. Sinister is so obsessed with Summers'."

"So maybe if we figure out what the hell is going on in our lineage, then maybe we'll get our answer." Nathan adds.

Scott opens his mouth in objection, but his wife cuts him off in their psychic rapport.

_"Do not." _Jean warns, already knowing that he was planning on saying something phallic.

_"What? I'm fairly sure we all know it's because I have good genes. They wouldn't be surprised, and if Nathan knows anything about his birth mother then even less." _Scott replies, giving her a passive glance as she trims the leaves of the other plants in the room. She just crinkles her nose in contempt and huffs in response.

_"That was _not _how you were going to put it."_ she retorts. _"You were going to make an inappropriate comment about your-"_

_"Mom, dad." _Rachel interjects, breaking into their personal rapport. _"At this point you're being so loud that even _we _can hear you."_

"Uh, right." Nathan says aloud, "Speaking of Madelyne-" he clips a picture of Jean's clone on a higher branch than his own; to the left of his father's. Jean was to the right of Scott's picture and under it was a picture of Rachel.

Coming along nicely, Rachel adds one more next to hers. "I've got Nate!" she exclaims.

"It kinda sucks that we basically have the same name." Nathan comments. Nate Grey was a Summers child in the same vain of Rachel: alternate reality child of the future. The family usually doesn't converse about what happened to X-Man and leave it at that. But in regards to him having the same name as Nathan, the whole family glares at Scott.

The man puts his hands up in self defense. "Look- he's Nathan_IEL_, you're just Nathan." he explains. "Also listen, that Scott Summers who named him wasn't me. Besides, he's an alternate version of you Nathan. Of course he's going to have a similar name."

After a moment or two of silence, Rachel speaks up. "This is giving me a headache."

"Word." Nathan agrees. He places another picture next to his own.

"Who's that sweetie?" Jean asks, squinting her eyes from afar.

"Stryfe."

Both Jean and Scott stiffen and they turn to look at each other.

"Does… does he count? He's a clone of you Nathan, that doesn't necessarily mean he's your brother." Scott remarks, more so to reassure himself.

Nathan shrugs, "He all sorts of effed up but maybe he does."

"Um-"

"Hey look!" Rachel holds up a picture of Hope Summers. Now it was Nathan's turn to feel uncomfortable. He turns a slightly darker shade of red with each passing second.

"We're just going to put that _riiight _here." Rachel places Hope's photo under Nathan's.

"I can't believe this…" he mutters.

"Chin up sport." Scott offers as a condolence. He goes over and pats Nathan's back. "Imagine how me and your mother felt when Rachel outed herself as our daughter from the future. _Or_ when we met you as an old man."

"That doesn't help dad."

Scott shrugs, "At least Hope was the other you's adopted child… y'know… the 'you' you killed."

Everyone collectively sighs at the insanity that is their family. They were probably even more messed up than Magneto's family, and that's saying something.

"Why are we like this?" Rachel asks absentmindedly.

"Well daughter-" Scott clears his throat and prepares to relay a story. "It all started with a parachute…"

"Alright." Rachel turns to her father and uses her telekinesis to keep his mouth shut. "I'm going to stop you there. We all know the story dad."

Scott replies in incoherent muffled noises.

"Yes dad, you and Alex won't stop telling everyone every time you get the chance." Rachel answers.

Scott looks down.

"Well Rach'," Nathan states, taking a step back to admire their work, "I think our family tree is finally finished."

The tree itself was put together as well as possible, extending from Scott and Jean's grandparents at the top and Hope Summers at the bottom. They also added an extra photo of Professor X next to Corsair for good measure; luckily they didn't add his side of the family to it or else it would be utter chaos.

Nathan then turns to his parents, "What do you think mom and dad?"

Rachel had released her hold on Scott's mouth so that he could speak. "I… _don't _hate it?" he comments, more so a question than an answer.

"Scott!" Jean gives him a swift mental kick causing him to hold his head in repulse.

"Ow! Um- I mean… it's great kids. A perfect asset to our home." he reiterates. "Let's just keep it waaay in the back, okay?"

"He hates it." Rachel says.

"Totally." Nathan echoes.

"Wait no-"

Rachel stands and grabs her brother by the arm. "C'mon Christopher Charles, let's go do something better with our time. My head hurts."

"Yeah." Nathan nods and starts to head out with her.

"Kids-"

Too late. The two had already departed the room.

Scott looks over at his wife. "Don't give me that look!" He objects to her judging eyes.

"What look?" Jean asks innocently, going back to trimming leaves. "You're the one who started this family, so you're the one who has to deal with this family tree."

"Jean that's unfair, what about my brothers?"

Jean briefly taps her chin, "Hm, you're right. It's your father's fault."

Scott sighs and rubs his temples. "Wow thank you."

Jean smiles, "What're Summers for?"


	6. Wreaking Havok

Alex Summers would have to describe himself as the "cool" uncle. Has been ever he was able to interact with Scott's kids and even now. Gabriel would have to be the weird uncle. Actually- he was simply the black sheep of the family but no one wanted to admit it. Not that it mattered to Gabe.

Exercising his status of being the cool uncle, Alex had transformed the living area into a volleyball court using some of Jean's plants from the garden as a net. The tendrils of said plants reached out towards the other and knotted, making for the perfect barrier. Jean probably wouldn't be happy that he moved it all the way out here- or rather _why _exactly they decided to play indoors- but he'd face that when the time comes.

Right now Alex took up one side of the room with Rachel accompanying him on his team, leaving Nathan and Gabriel to be the other team. He had explained how to play (setting, bumping, etc.) and after several attempts of yelling at Gabriel that flying was cheating, they were ready to start.

Rachel set the ball, allowing for either Gabriel or Nathan to reciprocate it. Of course, as per shenanigans, both attempt to dive for it and slam into each other.

Alex throws up his arms in annoyance. "C'mon guys, I thought we were ready to start?" he snorts. "I didn't clear out all this furniture for nothing?"

_"You-"_ Rachel twists her expression into one of confusion and accusation. "It was _me _who moved everything. I used my telekinesis!"

Alex rolls his eyes and tunes the right girl out. He waves his hand promoting everyone to hurry up. "Yeah yeah, whatever Rachel. Just set the ball Nathan and we'll try it again."

Nathan dips his head with compliance and grabs the ball. His tongue pokes out between his lips as he focuses on setting the ball correctly and lo, it actually made it to the other side. Rachel is quick to bump it right back, reciprocated by Gabriel.

When it gets back to his side, Alex jumps and spikes the ball, causing it to bounce off of the hard floor and squarely into Nathan's face. The poor boy recoils with a cry of pain, his left eye sparkler growing in response to the spike in emotion. He holds both of his hands over his nose and curses incoherently.

Troubled, Gabriel goes over to Nathan's side. "Are you alright?" he prompts, hesitating to lay a hand on his shoulder.

_"Psh," _Alex scoffs, brushing it off. "He's fine…" He then cups his hands around his mouth to call out to Nate. "Walk it off kid, you're doing great!"

Nathan looks up and shoots Alex a death stare. The eye sparkler of his was going haywire with the heated emotion. He said no words and yet his expression said everything. His nose looked like it was bent again, turning in the opposite direction it was the first time.

"What?" Alex pops a bit of a squat, resting his hands on his knees. "What're you going to do? Tell tattle to your daddy?" he goads. Clearly it wasn't the right thing to do but c'mon. The kid has seen a lot more injuries in his life than getting pegged in the face with a volleyball.

_"No."_ Nathan sucks in his cheeks and stands his ground. "I'll tell my _mom."_ In actuality, if he had told Scott there was a huge probability that he would do nothing about it. Now _Jean _on the other hand would reach forth and call the Phoenix to smite Alex alive where he stands. It wasn't really a big deal, but Nathan loved the power the "Mom Trump Card" gave him.

Silence ensues after Nathan's delivery as the four just stared awkwardly at each other. For a moment Nathan thought he should play it off because he just made a fool of himself but he was too stubborn to do so. Besides, if Jean heard he was embarrassed to be a bit of a mama's boy, he would never hear the end of it.

Alex's stifled laughter breaks through the silence. "Jean? What's _Jean _going to do? You're a grown ass kid, deal with it!"

Rachel squeaks in disagreement. "Um- yeah, I wouldn't put it past her to tear you a new one for hitting Nathan with the ball. Especially since we're playing indoors."

"What did I tell you?" Alex rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. _God these kids don't know how to disobey their parents. _"If anyone gets mad that we're playing indoors, we say that it was Gabriel's idea."

"But it wasn't-" Gabriel begins, furrowing his brows in protest.

Alex puts up his hands to cut him off, _"Shh!" _

"But-"

Alex loudly shushes him again. "But we say it was."

Nathan crosses his arms and narrows his mismatched eyes. "Uncle Alex, I'm starting to think you're a bad influence."

"Whaaat? Me?" Alex gasps audibly and drapes a dramatic hand across his forehead. "Oh my God it's almost like you kids don't know how to have fun!"

Rachel opens her mouth in opposition to the term "kid."

"Uncle Alex I'm nearly twe-"

Again, Alex keeps cutting them off and squints into the distance. "Oh I'm sorry… I'm looking for anyone who asked."

Having enough with Alex's tomfoolery, Gabriel floats over their makeshift net. "Well this stopped being fun a while ago. Alas, I am going to get Nathan an ice pack. Then maybe I can pop it back into place."

"Yeah," Rachel agrees. "You're being a bit of a jerk."

Alex scoffs, "Okay, I'm a lot of things, but a jerk isn't one of them. Lighten up, jeez. You know how many times I got pegged in the face with a ball? Mostly it was from Scott. Name it, soccer ball, football, basketball, _baseball _even. I mean- just the other day I got hit in the face with a monkey wrench!"

No one other than Scott really knows how Alex managed to get smacked with a wrench but he paraded around the house with a black eye for several days before opting for some Krakoan healing.

Rachel giggles at the memory, "Heh heh, _monkey wrench."_

Alex throws his hands up on defeat, "See! It's funny now!" He playfully juts his tongue out at his niece, and despite himself, Nathan laughs. Alex goes over to his nephew just as Gabriel returns with the ice pack.

"I got it!" Gabriel exclaimed, landing down next to Nathan. "This one is shaped like a dinosaur." He hands the pack to the boy and behold, it was a T-rex. _How cute._ Why exactly did a house populated with adults have this, no one knew.

"So," Alex clicks his tongue, "am I still the cool uncle?"

Ignoring Gabriel's look of _"Pardon?"_, Nathan squints up at Alex as the man searches his face for a reply.

For a moment they're both silent while Alex held his breath trying not to laugh at the absurdity of a badass teenage boy holding a dinosaur ice pack to his crooked nose. Nathan pretends to be cross for the moment but he couldn't help but burst out laughing at himself. "Oh Alex," the boy snorts, "of course you are. We're square." The two share a fist bump while Gabriel croaks inaudibly with his mouth agape.

"Then what am I to you?" Gabriel prompts, demanding to know.

"You're Uncle Gabe." Rachel smiles.

"Yes…" Gabriel nods slowly, "I am, but…"

"Let's fix this place up." Rachel offers, eager to change the subject. She starts levitating the plants out of the way.

"Yeah," Alex agrees, letting out a low chuckle. "Quick, before your mom sees what we've done with her plants." His eyes twinkle in amusement.

He was Alex, the cool uncle. Been that way since his brother had kids.


	7. Closet

Today Rachel Summers sat on the edge of her mother's bed while she prepared to move into her husband's room. For a little bit Rachel's parents had to figure out how exactly they were going to do their marriage. As the vows go, _"til death do us part"_ and well, both Scott and Jean had died since then. Finally they were both back (at the same time, good heavens) and they figured out what they needed to. There was no denying that Rachel's parents loved each other and secretly… she still hoped that they'd try to have a baby Rachel in this timeline. It nearly broke her when she first found out about Nathan being born to Scott and Madelyne but she was merely a girl then. Now she was older, more mature, and had come to terms with the radical life she shared.

At the moment Rachel was watching Jean clean out her closet of the various costumes she wore over the years. Currently, her mother donned the costume dubbed "Marvel Girl" which was a huge throwback. Once Rachel had taken up that name but there was no way she'd be caught _dead _in that get up. It was far too girly for her taste. It looked like a simple lime green sundress with long sleeves, yellow gloves, mask, and boots to boot. On Jean, it still looked good but as far as Rachel was concerned, she'd look like a donkey in her mother's outfit.

Jean was simply beautiful. Long flowing red hair, fair skin, and green eyes… it was pretty obvious how Scott fell for her personality aside. Rachel is practically the sporting image of her mother except she had chopped her hair much shorter and her face had red markings on it. Rachel was also a tad stockier compared to Jean's long legged beauty but she never let that bother her. Rachel fumbled with style and decidedly, she was a tomboy.

Having her curiosity get the better of her, Rachel asks why exactly Jean was wearing her Marvel Girl costume again.

"Hm," Jean straightens out the hem of her dress. "I feel like it represents a sort of rebirth. Somewhat like the Phoenix but… well, I'm _not_. After Phoenix I never kept a hero name. Sometime before that I was Marvel Girl and most of the time I was just plain old Jean Grey." she explains. "It's a little strange I know, but…"

Rachel nods in understanding, "Yeah, I get it." She peers behind her mother and spots the various iterations of the Phoenix costume through the years. It remains mostly the same with its most notable Phoenix insignia on the chest and its sash around the hips; the only thing that really changes would be the color scheme.

As if on cue, Jean pulls them out and folds them up. "I don't imagine I'll ever wear these again." she remarks, "But there are so many memories attached to them."

Rachel raises both her brows, "Like as a reminder of the force of power you've given up?"

Jean partly opens her mouth in awe. Rachel hadn't a need to read Jean's mind and yet she hit the nail right over its head. "Yes- precisely." The woman lingers over the red iteration and smiles a bit. "I recall someone telling me you've worn this one before."

"Yeah," Rachel runs an embarrassed hand through her short red locks. "Back when _I _was the Phoenix… Yeesh, back then it was only me and dad."

"What was it like with only him?" Jean inquires, curious as to Scott's parenting skills without her present.

Rachel leans back on her elbows and looks towards the ceiling. "Oh y'know… normal single dad things I feel. I kinda missed when he used to call me sweetheart. I truly felt… _special."_

Jean pauses and turns to look at her daughter with a wide grin. _Adorable, simply adorable. _Rachel must have felt her mother's eyes on her because she stiffened a bit. "Maybe I over shared."

"Oh honey, not at all." Jean turns back and her eyes land on the last and by far the oldest costume she ever owned: the original Xavier School uniform. She, Scott, Bobby, Hank, and Warren had all worn similar black and yellow units that covered most of their body from head to toe. Jean simply kept it for nostalgia (because it was far too small for her at this point) but she'd hardly taken the time to look at it. She only done so once to move it into this room and now twice moving out of it. Jean also wondered if Scott also kept his somewhere. That would've tugged at the heartstrings.

Jean pulls out the old costume and Rachel gives a slow whistle.

"Wow, that's an oldie. I've only seen that one in photos." Rachel comments, looking at it once over. It was certainly no fashionable feat and it was probably why students had taken to wearing different uniforms- or lack thereof- in the years that followed.

"Yep." Jean nods in agreement. "But I still love it." She neatly folds it up and puts it with the others.

Having fueled her nostalgia trip, Jean levitates the items from her closet just as Scott walks in. He raps on the doorframe to make his presence known. "How're my two favorite girls in the whole wide world?" he asks rhetorically with a plastered grin. He was ecstatic that he and Jean would be sharing a room again, meaning that all things were mended. They were doing their marriage _their_ way.

"Actually dad," Rachel begins, "we're on the moon. Not on Earth."

Scott rolls his eyes behind his glasses subtlety and reiterates. "Right so… my two most favorite girls on the whole wide moon. Mm, doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

Rachel shrugs with a laugh. "Whatever, we'll come up with something that sticks, you'll see."

"Mhm," Scott turns toward Jean. "All wrapped up here?"

Jean nods and floats her assortments out of the room and into Scott's next door. Officially, the room would be dubbed _"Mom and Dad's room" _from now on. She goes over and kisses the corner of Scott's mouth. "Guess we'll be sleeping good tonight." she remarks.

Overhearing, Rachel crinkles her nose in response. "Um, hello? I'm still here. I don't even want to know if that was some sort of innuendo."

"I thought you wanted yourself to be born." Scott teases, earning a cuff to his ear from his wife.

"Right right, whatever. I'm out." Rachel floats over and shares a hug with her parents and before she goes, Jean has one thing to say in the rapport she shares with her husband:

_"Scott, Rachel told me that she misses when you used to call her sweetheart."_

_"Really?" _comes Scott's reply. _"I'd thought she grew out of it."_

_"Clearly not. She still wants to be daddy's little girl, who can blame her?"_

_"Oh, alright. That's fair."_

Scott ruffles his daughter's hair good-naturedly. "Seeya later sweetheart. Maybe we can do something later, just me and you." he offers.

"Really?" Rachel asks in nearly a squeal. Quickly, she simmers down her excitement and puts on her grown woman mask. "Oh, alright. That sounds lovely." Soon she leaves and as soon as she's out of eyesight, she begins to put a spring in her step.

"Well," Jean looks up at Scott. "Off to our new room then."

Scott swiftly scoops up his wife into the bridal style hold. "Yeah, just like the honeymoon we never got to have."

"Yeah about that-"

_"Shh…"_ Scott presses his lips to Jean, instantly shutting her up.

"Oh you…" Jean giggles as Scott begins to carry her away like the knight in shining armor that he is. "Wait-"

Jean turns her head back and uses her telekinesis to close the closet door. That way it was closing on a chapter of separation in her life. No more would she stay solitary under the same roof as her husband.

Now, as soon as she opens the closet door in her new room it'll open the chapter of togetherness. Then they could both have their old costumes occupy the same space and perhaps reminisce on the old times.

It was symbolic, just like how she was wearing Marvel Girl again.


	8. Nathan Christopher Charles Summers

Namesakes.

To everyone he was Cable, or sometimes _Kid Cable. _Whether he liked it or not, everyone was used to the older grizzled Cable with stark white hair and biceps that could crush a melon. Well he killed that version and now only he remains.

On his birth, he was Nathan Christopher Charles. Why? Apparently his father couldn't choose who to honor. It was either Scott's actual father Christopher "Corsair" Summers or his surrogate father Charles Xavier. And thus, he was Christopher Charles.

When taken away to the future he was Nathan Askani'son Dayspring. He was Dayspring because his father and mother had adopted fake names when they raised them. To him they were Slym and Redd Dayspring. He was Askani'son because of the clan Askani in which his sister Rachel was donned "Mother Askani." It was all very complicated but he didn't have to think much then. All he had to do was learn to contain the techno-virus.

Other than Cable, now what was he? Well that's a damn good question. Usually he'd just introduce himself as simply Nathan or Nate but if people wanted full names he would say "Nathan Dayspring Askani'son Summers." Nathan his birth name, Dayspring the last name he was raised with, Askani'son for the clan, and lastly Summers for his legacy. But where did Christopher Charles go? He'd rather not talk about it. He thought it was stupid to have both of them has his middle names. Why couldn't he have one? Why was his dad such a dork?

Perhaps…

Perhaps _he _was the dork for not accepting it. Of course it made his full name exceptionally long but the two men he was named after were a part of his history. Not only was Christopher Summers his grandfather but Charles Xavier could have been good as any. _Well that would require actually spending time with him… _

And so he did.

Nathan spent as much time with his namesakes as he could. Christopher was the laid back grandad who lets him sit shotgun on his ship and even pilot it for a bit. They even went camping once or twice, just the two of them. Sharing the same blood, they were so much alike. It was hard to ever think Christopher as an old man. He simply wasn't, he… he _couldn't. _First of all Chris was physically fit without a trace of grey hair to be seen. Perhaps space travel will do that to ya, but the truth was, Chris looked like he was still in his prime. He sure acted like it too. Perhaps that's why he and Nathan got along so well.

Sometimes the two would drink root beer and shoot cans for the sake of it. Just two men- because Nathan hated being called Kid Cable- having a good time. Chris would tell him stories about space and of when Nathan's dad was younger and in return Nathan would tell him the good parts of the future and of his childhood.

It was different when Nathan spent time with Charles. Charles was usually so busy with Krakoan activities but when he had the time they just sat. They just sat and drank tea. Sometimes they'd converse but it'd be light and kind. It was a comfortable silence that ensued but it didn't bother either of them. Just two blokes- because Nathan would tease Charles about being British- hanging out. Charles definitely fit the more stereotypical grandad image. Even with the ability to walk and being physically fit now, he still gave off that kind of energy.

And even though Charles' eyes are obscured by Cerebro, Nathan could feel them boring into him from time to time. It was like he was reading him without probing the boy's mind. It was Charles who raised Scott for the duration of his teenage years and already he could see so much of Scott in Cable. Of course, he considered Scott to be his son but when Nathan came over calling him "gramps", Charles nearly sat out his tea.

Having spent enough time with them, Nathan asked a simple question to each.

"Did you know my middle name was Christopher?" he asks Chris and Chris replies while ruffling his dark waves, "That I did. At first, I thought they were going to name ya Christopher but Nathan is good too. It's… it's really sweet that you have my name anyway. After not being there for Scott, that was the last thing I thought he was going to do. And y'know what? Christopher ain't such a bad name either."

Chris had a certain sparkle to his eyes when giving his response and Nathan's heart swelled. Maybe he was being a sap but the moment was so fluffy that even a rugged angst driven teen from the future can melt into it.

"Did you know my middle name was Charles?" he asks the Professor, and Charles replies whole folding his hands, "I believe your full name was Nathan Christopher Charles Summers. It was difficult _not _to know being a telepath and all. Sometimes you pick up things that scream louder than most. Although, Scott did tell me and my response was one of joy. It simply tugged at my heartstrings to know that I had a family who'd honor me."

Charles had a certain melancholy to him that Nathan didn't quite place, and so, he gave the old man a hug.

So what if he was Nathan Christopher Charles Dayspring Askani'son Summers? Those were all his names and he chose to stick by them. He'd want the two men he's named after to be proud of him and prove that his father's naming ability hasn't gone to waste.

Now… if it didn't cause him so much aging whenever his mother used his full name when he was in trouble…


	9. Ruby Tinted Glasses

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here because I have nowhere else to grievance. The whole polygamy thing that Hickman is pushing in it's underlying tones just disgusts me. I hate that Scott and Jean have separate rooms and Wolverine also lives with them in a room connected to Jean's. I know that Nightcrawler hatched the bright idea of "make more mutants" but there are plenty of women and men on Krakoa. None of this "sharing." While I had put in the description of this fic that I wasn't going to include any of that considering Wolverine, there won't be mentions of a homosexual relationship with Cyclops either. It's just, **_**ew. **_**I'm going to stick with how Cable views it in Cable #1 in that Wolverine is simply Uncle Logan. I don't think I'll include Wolverine in the near future into any of these one-shots but for future reference he would be referred to as such. **

**Also, no Emma Frost. Period. Unless it's about a snobby rivalry with Jean not concerning Scott or concerning the fact that Cable might start dating the Five-in-One (which I am a bit more okay with than anything else relationship-wise Hickman and others might be pushing.) **

**No orgy, no nothing. Even if the X-Men seem to be a death cult of sorts at the moment. Just the wholesome and bit of humor that is sometimes seen on the surface level of Dawn of X and related titles. H̶o̶n̶e̶s̶t̶l̶y̶ t̶h̶e̶ c̶u̶r̶r̶e̶n̶t̶ s̶t̶a̶t̶e̶ o̶f̶ t̶h̶e̶ X̶-M̶e̶n̶ s̶c̶a̶r̶e̶s̶ m̶e̶ b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ o̶n̶ o̶n̶e̶ s̶i̶d̶e̶, t̶h̶e̶ c̶u̶l̶t̶ a̶n̶d̶ s̶e̶x̶u̶a̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ a̶r̶e̶ d̶a̶u̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ b̶u̶t̶ o̶n̶ t̶h̶e̶ o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶, t̶h̶e̶ r̶e̶v̶i̶v̶a̶l̶ p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶ a̶n̶d̶ t̶h̶e̶ s̶h̶i̶f̶t̶ f̶r̶o̶m̶ b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ o̶p̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ e̶n̶t̶i̶c̶e̶s̶ m̶e̶. Okay, now that that's off of my chest in like- the 9th chapter, let's finally continue.**

* * *

Scott Summers had made a lot of mistakes in his past: marrying the clone of his one true love, abandoning the son he had with said clone, cheating on his wife, breaking off and becoming a despot like Magneto… _killing Charles Xavier. _Those were just some of them.

Ever since returning to life (having died from terrigen mist) and being given a second chance, Scott had made the effort to be the boy scout he once was. Unfortunately, when he had paid the Fantastic Four a visit, the view of him being a "bad guy" had not faded away as he had hoped. Factually, the humans were suspicious of all mutants congregating on an island. But most remember what Cyclops had done. See, leading up to the events where he killed Charles Xavier, the Phoenix Force had returned to Earth. It came in search of his granddaughter Hope Summers. No matter how hard he tried to push Hope, she wasn't ready for it. Instead, the Phoenix Force chose five new vessels: Colossus, Magik, Emma Frost, Namor, and himself. At first, the five (which quickly became known as the Phoenix Five) had begun to use their powers for good. Especially for the wellbeing of the previous mutant haven, Utopia.

Of course, then things started to go out of hand. Long story short, if one of the Phoenix Five had fallen, the power would be redistributed among the rest. In the end it was Scott who had all of it. He remembered the power of being life incarnate gave him. He remembered wondering if this was how Jean felt. He then remembered the Professor begging for him to stop.

Then… all he remembered after that was pain and sadness. Eventually Scott had converted that into something a little more positive much to Captain America's disdain. He knew that the whole ordeal would make him a martyr and he was right. Just look at Quentin Quire for instance. Scott predicted that he would become so much of an icon to be printed onto T-shirts for young mutants.

And he was right. Cyclops was right.

Even though he admitted to Cable that he was wrong at the point of his resurrection it does come to mind… if he had been wrong then… does that mean he would've been wrong now?

Everyone had feared and hated him on the account of "he was training children to be soldiers" or for the straight fact he was working with Magneto. He had to hand it to Wolverine though, maybe he should have focused more on training children only to defend themselves. But what of Utopia? Just like Genosha, Utopia had fallen. Both were a place for mutants to go to escape prosecution. Sound familiar?

All in all, Scott had chosen not to dwell too much on the matter. He was wrong. That was it. If he keeps telling himself that, then maybe he could better himself for the future. Scott had already buried the hatchet with Wolverine and the fact that he killed Charles Xavier has gone unsaid. Hell, even Quentin stopped wearing "Cyclops was Right" T-shirts.

Scott in turn had learned to let all that baggage go. As all residents of Krakoa did. The sooner he accepts the current state of things, the happier he would be.

And he was. He never felt happier in his life. For once in a long time, he was in control. Forget being right or not. Scott's New mantra might as well be "Cyclops is happy." Corny as it might sound, it was true. At least Jean wouldn't laugh at him. _Possibly. _For a fact, his children would. But even they would understand. The clusterfuck that is the Summers family had faced a lot of hardships.

No one speaks of the past unless it was of a fond memory. None of his family members mentions how he became a despot. He should be thankful for that, and he truly is. But somewhere deep inside of him, he hopes to become the beloved leader he once was. Perhaps he had just let the Fantastic Four get to him and he was over contemplating things.

His son Nathan saw him as that very same leader. He told Scott himself.

Maybe that's all it was, he just wanted to fit the image his son has painted of him. Surely Jean would find this one amusing. She probably caught wind of it by now through their psychic rapport. Especially now that he was storming with thoughts before their bedtime.

Scott swaps his visor for his glasses before settling down to rest. Sometimes you had to look through the past with ruby tinted glasses.

Sometimes literally.


	10. Jeannie in a Bikini, Scott in a Speedo

Scott, Jean and the kids were enjoying a nice family outing at the beach. The waves gently lapped at the shore, and shimmered in the sunlight. Rachel was already burying her brother in the sand using her telekinesis and Nathan did nothing in protest. Their mother watched them with an amused expression and set up the beach towels and umbrella. She waited for Scott to finish changing into his swimwear so that he could rub her down with sunscreen- _admittedly, it was one of her favorite parts of coming to the beach. _

When he had returned, he was met with a gaggle of expressions.

"Ew dad, put that away, no one needs to see that." came Nathan's snide remark. The boy was already neck deep in sand (Rachel works fast) and sneered at the image of his father in a speedo. _Of all things. _

Scott chuckles in response and goes over to his wife. "Aw c'mon sport," he says, "your dad is trying to live a little."

Nathan snorts, "Living a little _too_ much it seems. There are just some things a son isn't meant to see."

"Yeah," Rachel agrees as she prepares to pour some sand into her brother's hair. "I kinda preferred you being a square."

"Oh I don't know, what do you think Jean?" Scott asks, turning to his wife. Jean gives her reply while she stops Rachel from going too far, "Well…" she clicks her tongue, "I kinda like it."

Nathan throws his head back and groans, "Of course mom likes it! Look, I've seen a lot of messed up shit, and this doesn't need to be one of them. You don't see grandpoppy Corsair pulling that."

Scott turns his gaze towards the ground and wriggles his toes in the sand. _"Well…"_

"Oh God." Nathan rolls his eyes. "Let's never invite grandad to the beach ever." Rachel nods in agreement.

"Oh Nathan," Jean chides, "don't be like that." She levitates the suntan lotion from the beach bag and hands it to Scott. "You mind dear?"

Nathan prematurely gags and his parents give him a curious look. "What's wrong with that now?" Scott asks rhetorically, adjusting his glasses so that the sun glinted off of them. "It's not inappropriate."

"Yeah but with you two making googly eyes and whispering sweet nothings, I'm led to believe it is." Nathan retorts, trying to get out of his sand trap. "In other words, y'all two are nasty."

"Nasty?" Jean exchanges a glance with Scott. "I'm sure if Armor or one of the Stepford Cuckoos were here-"

"No." Nathan cut in with his cheeks rapidly flushing. "That's different."

"I'm pretty sure it's not." Jean teases.

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"Hm." Jean looks toward her daughter, "Rachel sweetie, do your mother a favor and let the tide come in." Of course, Rachel smiles deviously and obliges. Utilizing her powers, she dug a small trench from the waters edge toward where Nathan was buried.

"Hey wait-" Nathan wriggles around, his eye sparkler flashing with agitation. "This isn't fair!"

Jean smiles. She was probably enjoying this more than she should be. "Oh sweetie, you're a Summers, of course it's fair."

The water slowly reaches around Nathan's shoulders and softly tugs at the sand. "Dad, do something!" Nathan protests. At this point he wouldn't hold it against Rachel to allow the tide to pull him out towards the sea. He could almost taste the salt on his tongue.

"That depends," Scott replies, "am I still nasty?"

Nathan keeps silent and narrows his eyes into brown and yellow slits.

"Then that's a no." Scott opens the suntan lotion and goes about applying it on Jean. "Rachel, he's all yours."

Rachel gives a mock salute. "Aye aye Cap'n Dad." She continues to let more water into her trench and looms ominously over her brother. "Rach…" Nathan cranes his head to look up at her. "I thought you were on my side?" he asks. She laughs and takes a step back. "Yeah but given the opportunity to annoy you, I have to comply."

"Wow." Nathan grumbles as the water rises to his chin. "I hate you."

"I hate you too little brother." Rachel replies good-naturedly.

"You kids don't have too much fun now!" Scott calls out. He was busy massaging Jean's back as she lied down on the towel. The tide rises enough that salt water gets into Nathan's mouth. He spits it out and lifts his chin above the water. "That's it, I'm excommunicating myself from the Summer Home." he says.

Rachel arches an amused brow. "Yeah? And what'll you do then little brother?"

"I'll become a Starjammer, I don't know." Nathan replies, still trying to get free. The damp sand was sucking at his limbs and scratching at his limbs. Not to mention the amount that was in his swim shorts. In hindsight, getting buried in the sand was a bad idea. "Rachel please, this is getting ridiculous."

"You're right." Rachel takes a seat in the sand a bit away from Nathan and the mini trench. She begins occupying herself by making a sandcastle, completely ignoring him. Luckily, the tide started to go back out and Nathan was back to being submerged up to his shoulders. He looked toward his parents expectantly but they were both caught up bathing in the sun.

_This is my life now. _Nathan thinks. _I'm going to drown by my sister and the last thing I'll see is my dad in a goddamn speedo. Saving the future wasn't worth this. _

Jean turns onto her back and rests on her elbows. "Think I went too far?" she asks her husband who was applying sunscreen onto himself.

Scott scoffs in response, "He's a Summers, he'll be fine."


	11. Let the Fire be Fire

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hi, me again. I don't make a habit of this I swear. I just want to say, as of April 2020 Dawn of X and friends is still going on and there's a lot to be uncovered. There's still some mysteries yet to be answered and- **_**well… **_**one of the more pressing ones that directly affects my fanfiction is Vulcan. Yeah. We're going there. :/ In my other fic called "Hearth" (psst, check it out), I simply made it so that Gabriel recalled everything from his life. His memories were still intact and just like it was revealed, he never died from the events of War of Kings. So… yeah. That's how it'll be here, it makes this easier for all of us. So if anyone's reading from the future (hello), and Hickman decided that Gabriel DIDN'T have his memories… or if that wasn't the real Gabriel at all… oh well. And without further ado, Cyclops is Right presents, **_**"Let the Fire be Fire."**_

**P.S, special thanks to the one guy who's always leaving reviews. You know who you are. ;)**

* * *

_Well this is pathetic. _

Gabriel stretches and allows his joints to pop. He had spent another night drinking on the couch, though this time he was alone. Alex and Scott had gently scolded him against doing that but he already fell into a habit. His former glory as Emperor Vulcan was snatched from him and all that was left behind was a sad little man with nothing to do. He was no Cyclops, great leader of the mutants and he certainly was no Havok… great… _well um. _Havok was Havok, he'll leave it at that.

He groggily gets up and rubs the sleep out of his eyes. "Must… replenish the flame…" he muttered as he shuffled toward the kitchen.

Since joining the mutants in their sparkly new society, Gabriel had picked up a poetic way of speaking. In particular, he had a pension for a fire motif. Everyone found it annoying after a while but it somewhat made sense. Fire… Vulcan… 'nuff said. Gabriel had chosen to name himself after the Roman god of fire for a reason.

A dull throb in his head invaded Gabriel's thoughts as he nearly doubled over. _My energy has been doused… I must rekindle- _Gabriel groans audibly. _Oh fuck it. _He trudges to the fridge and grabs the milk jug. It was filled about halfway and he was going to guzzle it down, just like that. At the moment, he really didn't care and it would seem that he was alone. Other than the frequent times he'd spend hanging out with his old friends, he was usually alone. His family were either assigned onto missions or teams, leaving him behind. He hoped and prayed to any higher being that'd listen that it had nothing to do with himself. Surely Professor X and Cyclops trust him by now. Cyclops was the one who brought him here in the first place.

_But then again… _

Gabriel looks at his disheveled form in the reflection of the stainless steel refrigerator. His black waves were a mess, sticking this way and that way. Even his eyes had dark circles beneath them, revealing the rough night he had. _Rough meaning, drinking and trying to figure out how he could get satellite TV from the moon._

It was probably obvious why he wasn't put onto any tasks at this point.

_Sad pathetic Vulcan. Merely a boy in a grown man's body. _

Gabriel finishes off the milk and tosses it with the recycling. "What a time to be alive." he says aloud with a roll of his eyes. Not that he spent much of his life living anyway. He never had a childhood and he didn't even know how old he was supposed to be relative to his brothers. He'll have to thank the Shi'ar for that. They ripped him from his mother's womb and sped up his growth to adolescence. That's all Gabriel remembers, being a worthless little teenager. A slave for the Shi'ar Empire. He snorts ruefully at the thought and scours the refrigerator for anything else he could inhale.

There was a brief time in his brief teenage life where he was truly happy, he'd have to admit.

"If only you could see me now Dr. MacTaggert." Gabriel remarks as he pulls out some cold spaghetti. _Yum, shove that baby into the microwave and turn up the heat. _

Dr. Moira MacTaggert was his caretaker, a teacher, and practically a mother to Gabriel and his friends. While Professor Xavier had his X-Men, Moira had them: Vulcan, Petra, Sway, and Darwin.

He sighs to himself with reverence and compassion toward the woman. After his initial return from Krakoa- _y'know, back when it was still in space- _he had found that she was dead. A pity really and it was all because of humans and their sentinels. Lest did he know that the woman was still alive and that she was a mutant herself. If he could see her now, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. Cry maybe. He never blamed her for the event that killed Petra and Sway. Hell, he had forgiven Xavier and Cyclops for it. No need to throw a match into dry kindling.

If he was being honest with himself, Moira would probably recoil at what he had become and look at him pitifully. _Was this really the boy she found clutching a book on Roman mythology? The very same boy who was eager to learn how to use his powers?_ Sadly yes, life had never been too kind to him and he hadn't been too kind back. Now given the chance to start over…

The microwave beeps and goes black, revealing Gabriel's crusty expression. _Yikes. _

Perhaps it was time to go out and start a new ledger for the Vulcan name. No more mulling about and eating leftover spaghetti. No more waiting on the sidelines either.

Gabriel smiles to his reflection. "Aye my friend, let the fire be fire."


	12. And Like That it Really Be

Alex Summers clutched the neck of a beer bottle as he looked out into open space. He was very obviously upset, and lately, that's all he has been feeling. He allowed for his mutant power to course through his hand, causing the beer bottle to shatter. Some of the shards had bit into his skin while the rest dropped to the floor.

His brother Gabriel, who'd just walked into the open area, glances down as the precious drink had gone to waste. "Whoa," he says, "calm brother. That's from my personal stash you know."

Alex grumbles his reply incoherently and drops his hand to his side. He didn't want to talk about it to any capacity. Not with Scott, and certainly not with Gabriel.

"Okay…" Gabriel instinctively put his hands up in self defence. "Pray tell, what irks you?" he asks. It wasn't often anyone let a perfectly good beer to waste. If it wasn't on the floor right now, Gabriel would be guzzling it to drown out his own feelings.

He looked at Alex with innocent blue eyes and Alex had returned it with a similarly blue glare.

"Well?" Gabriel offers a meek smile and reaches his hand out toward Alex's. "May I?" The glass shards in Alex's hand caused thin streams of blood to trickle down his palm, soaking up into the fabric of his costume. Alex's first reaction was to jerk his hand away but thought better of it and allowed Gabe to treat it.

"Now," Gabriel clucks his tongue, "what ails you, brother?" he asks once more. As he carefully picked out the glass, Alex gave his reply. "I burned a man's face." he states dully and towards the end he winced as he started to feel the cuts.

"Peace, warrior, I am almost done." Gabriel assured before getting back to the matter at hand. "Seems the fire in you has been ablaze, no? It's a rule not to hurt a human being."

"Don't you think I know that?" Alex hisses in response. "As punishment, I'm being put on Sinister's team!"

With an unchanging expression, Gabe briefly looks up. Out of the three Summers brothers, Gabriel was lucky enough to escape Mr. Sinister's torture. For some reason, the man was infatuated with the Summers' DNA, having tormented Scott for when he was in the orphanage. He had done things to a young Alex as well, but his memories were mostly blocked. Lest did the Summers know, Mr. Sinister knew there was a third Summers brother before either Scott or Alex did. He even had some of Gabe's DNA but he wasn't the exception.

The point is, Gabriel didn't have a personal gripe with this man other than he hurt his family. He was absent during all of these events but he did try to understand the first-hand trauma as he learned more and more about the Summers.

Gabriel then clears his throat, "And… knowing what you know, the Council simply let it happen?"

Alex gave a grim nod and shifted his gaze toward the mess on the floor. "Scott tried to stick up for me." he says, "But it was no use."

"I see." Gabriel replied and soon Alex's blood began to broil. He questioned the sanctity of the Council, and more importantly, Mr. Sinister's placing in it. He curled up his hand and ignored the pain it brought him. "I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him, and I find it hard to believe that anyone does. So why the fuck is he here then?" Alex asked angrily. He directed the question to no one, but poor Gabriel opted to answer anyway.

"Krakoa offers a home to _all _mutants." says Gabriel in a light tone. He took a step back to give his brother some space. "Whether they be good, bad, morally grey…"

Unaccepting of the response, Alex had initially turned to strike Gabriel with an energy blast. His anger got the better of him in that brief moment but his true self held him back from harming his little brother.

Without flinching, Gabriel continues. "You wouldn't turn me away because of my past would you?"

Alex sighed and slumped his shoulders with defeat. Even before now, Alex had been willing to kill Gabriel once before. But that was when he threatened to kill all of the X-Men. Now he was just an alcoholic who spoke ornately. He wouldn't hurt a fly. But even if a sadistic ex-Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire can change, then can Mr. Sinister?

_No. _Alex could not accept that and he knew he wasn't alone in his feelings. Xavier and Magneto may want everyone to hold hands and sing Kumbaya, but that wasn't going to cut it. Charles Xavier is very well aware of the personal problem that the Summers had with Mr. Sinister and he simply let Alex get put onto the Hellions.

"Alex?" Gabriel broke him out of his thoughts and without an answer, Alex slinks away to disappear into his room. By the time he wakes, his doubts would seemingly evaporate as most grim feelings did since Krakoa became sovereign. It would be gone until he had to face Sinister the next day, his hatred rejuvenating. One of these days, he hoped his violent tendencies would evaporate as well.

Now alone, Gabriel sighs and crouches with intent to clean up the mess. _"You wouldn't turn me away because of my past, would you?"_ he echoes numbly. He accidentally pricks himself with one of the shards and watches as the bead of blood drips onto the floor. "Can't get a rest, can we?"

Gabriel softly shook his head as he sucked his thumb as a quick remedy. All this talk made him thirsty for some beer.


	13. Xavier Home

**AUTHORS NOTE: This chapter of Summer Home is brought to you by… Monshroud! They asked me to interpret a what if scenario of Professor X's family all living together and I shall deliver. **

**Since this has not been done in DoX yet, I have a little more freedom here so bear with me. This isn't really connected to the Summer Home characters, so it's a bit of a spin-off (unless y'all want it to be connected, while I can stray further from the source material, I will.) So, without further ado, I present H̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ o̶f̶ H̶e̶l̶l̶, I mean- Xavier Home!**

* * *

Professor Charles Xavier waits on the sandy shores of Krakoa with his fingertips pressed together with slight agitation. He was alone today without his good friend Erik by his side. As Moira instructed him to do, he needed to do this alone. She told him that they needed his son, Legion, for the wellbeing of Krakoa just as they needed her son, Proteus (both of whom share reality warping powers.)

Legion, or David, had a track record of villainy or a simple bad rap for not being able to control his tremendous ability. As Charles had said before, David had a godlike ability with child-like control and who could blame him? The lad was born with mental illness inherited from his mother, leading him to develop multiple personalities.

Speaking of the devil, here he was now.

Charles had to reach out with this newest adaptation of Cerebro to find him and requested that they met on this secluded area of the island. When he had found him, David was floating around in space, enjoying the peace that came with isolation. Now here he was, descending from the sky at an ample pace.

David was relishing in the fact that Charles had needed him- that _anyone _had needed him, and he was going to milk out every second of it. Of course, on the inside he was terrified. Terrified that'd he mess up like he always would and accidentally create another altered timeline or kill everyone on the island. Charles had promised he'd help him (like he had done and the past, which didn't end up too well), and this time he was certain he could.

Once David had let his bare feet touch the soft sand that is Krakoa, he gave his father a sidelong long, trying to read his expressionless face. The new Cerebro concealed the majority of Charles' face and gave him a dubious look.

"Och," David comments, breaking the silence, "what's all this then?" He spoke like a true Scot, matching his accent to be that of Moira's, having been on Muir Island for an extended period of his life.

"It's nice to see you too David." Charles replies, disregarding David's question.

David cocks his head to the side and raises an angular brow. "Well with this getup it's hard ta believe you can see anythin' at all!"

Charles allowed himself a chuckle at that remark. He opens his arms to embrace his boy and David happily accepts. It was a long time since the two had seen each other and a catch up was long overdue. "Come," Charles says, gesturing towards the stretch of the beach, "walk with me son."

The once Professor explains the gist of Krakoa and the type of government they have. He explained the Council and The Five while David listened intently. It rubbed him as strange that his father had taken a different path towards the security of mutant kind. A dream that David himself tried fighting for… which backfired because he tried to kill Magneto (in turn killing Charles once… oops) and another occasion in which he had to erase himself from the timeline. His obvious appearance now shows how well that went.

But if this is what Charles wanted now, who was David to argue? David was a good for nothing mutant who can't even help himself sometimes. On the outside, Krakoa sounded like a great idea. If it ended up working, David didn't want to be the one who messed it up for everyone. _Not again. _

"And where do I fit in?" David asks, fixing his blue eyes one blue glass. _If he could dig in his brain and find some bugger with x-ray vision, he could see exactly what Charles was doing underneath that ridiculous headdress. _

Without needing to read his mind, Charles does the favor to take off Cerebro and train his eyes onto David's. Blue on blue, burning with intellectual intensity.

"We need you David." Charles replies with sincerity.

_"We?" _David inquires, "Who's we?"

"Krakoa." Charles clarifies.

David narrowed his eyes to accusing slits and wags an equally accusing finger. "Nah, that's bullshit. I bet half of these people don't know I still exist, and for those who do… do ya really think they'd want me here?"

Charles stays silent for a moment. In actuality, it was Moira who requested for David. If she didn't ask, he would have let David be without a second thought. But how was he supposed to explain Moira? No one but he and Erik knew she was still alive and as far as David was concerned, she had been long dead. Not even Moira's own children knew she was alive.

No. Until any of them were ready, Moira was to stay a secret. Instead, Charles offers an alternative reason to bolster David's self esteem.

"Your family, David. We need you." Charles says.

David gives a puzzled expression. "Family? Ma's dead… what family?"

Before Charles could answer that, Davis just cuts him off, jumping the gun. "Oh I hope ya don't mean that Summers, that square has a stick up his a-"

"David." Charles states. "That kind of attitude was unprecedented. And no," he softly shakes his head, "I was referring to our blood. I have already spoken to your sibling and decided an arrangement that'll suit us all."

At that moment David's jaw dropped. With his mouth agape, he stumbles a bit backward. "S-_siblings?"_

Charles nods in confirmation. "Indeed, not to mention that your uncle will also be staying with us."

Now that sounded more familiar to David. "Uncle… uncle…" David rubbed his temples to jog his memory. "Oh! The Juggernaut! Why is that nut stayin' with us? Isn't one enough?" he asks, referring to himself.

"Everyone has been forgiven of their crimes and have been given a second chance on Krakoa." Charles informs. "That includes you David."

David searches Charles' expression for confirmation that he won't be abandoned… _again. For God knows how many times it has been. _He also feels that there's something else Charles is keeping from him, but he doesn't inquire about it.

"What if… what if I just _hurt _everyone again?" David admits in anguish. He folds his arms over his bare chest and lets his gaze fall towards the ground. "All I ever do is disappoint you anyway."

Charles sighed. He felt for his boy and truly believed he could help him this time. "No, you won't disappoint me David. You _can't."_

David lifted his eyes slightly. "Oh yeah? And what makes you so sure?"

"Our work with Proteus may surprise you." Charles replies blankly.

_There he goes again with that plural possessive pronoun. _David thinks. _What exactly is he trying to get at?_ Of course, he guards his thoughts to himself, on the passing chance that Charles may be listening in on them. Instead he just looks at Charles with hopeful eyes. "Well alright then, I'll entertain this for a bit. Where's this poor family who has me for a brother?"

With a smile, Charles places Cerebro back onto his head and leads his son toward the inhabited area of Krakoa where the Xaviers (and one Marko) awaited them.

At this point the sun was setting behind the trees and casted long shadows over everyone's heads. It was an ominous setting for a family reunion but with these folk, they hardly minded.

"Took ya long enough Charlie. I thought you were gonna bail." Cain, the Juggernaut states indignantly. Easily he stood out against the smaller frames of Charles' other children Charles II and Xandra. Unlike the rest of them, he wasn't a mutant, but just like how Corsair would stay with the Summers every now and then, Charles had intended for Cain to do the same. Human or not, they were family. And while Charles wasn't familiar with Charles II or Xandra's as he is with Cain or even David, he intended for them to get along.

"Apologies Cain." Charles says, presenting David forward. "I'd like you to meet my other son, David Haller. Better known as Legion."

The other three train their eyes on David with a mixed air of emotion. Cain for one has at least _heard _of Legion (being an omega level threat, it's impossible not to make a name for oneself), but he had no idea of his relation to Charlie. Charles II who came from an alternate future, had a similar limited knowledge of David as well. Lastly, little Xandra, Empress of the Shi'ar Empire hasn't the slightest clue who that was or who anyone besides Charles was for that matter.

In turn, David didn't recognize Charles II or Xandra but the resemblance to their father was uncanny. Hell, Charles II was a literal carbon copy! Alas, the boy was wheelchair bound (thanks to the Colossus of his time) and couldn't share the same luxury of being to walk his father now had.

Ensuing the awkward silence, Charles continued the introductions. "David, you must recognize Cain. These two here Charles Xavier II and Xandra Neramani."

David studies them for a moment and regards them with an air of confusion. "You know… you'd think I would've been able ta meet these two before… before I tried to erase myself from the timeline." he says. They looked a little too old to be born from a time between David meeting his father for the first time to now.

"It's… complicated to say the least." Charles motions toward the middle child. "Charles II here comes from a possible future, in which Mystique is his mother." He then turns toward the youngest. "Xandra on the other hand is a genetic offspring created from Empress Lilandra and myself DNA. She now rules the Shi'ar Empire."

With that explanation, David lowers himself to Xandra's height. "Aw you? But you're nothin' but a wee lass, much less a ruler of a space fairin' empire!" he teases, which earns himself a death glare from the girl. Almost immediately, the tall haired mutant knocks it off and backs away. He offers a half-hearted laugh. "Huh… well whaddya know, we each have three different Ma's. Isn't that funny?"

At David's comment, they all turn to look at Charles to put him on the spot. Whether or not the births of Charles II and Xandra were in his control, he was still the easiest to blame.

Charles inwardly sighs at his son's inability to keep his mouth shut and carries on as normal. "I hope all of you will get along." he says. "Different mothers or not, I'd like for you to treat each other respectfully as if you were fully blood related." With that, Charles directed the last statement towards his own step-brother Cain. He placed at the Juggernaut from behind Cerebro, briefly reliving his troubled childhood. He and Cain never got along in the past, and it took a lot of effort to even bring him here. He didn't want his children to end up like them. So, he wanted to set an example.

"Father, will you show us to our home now?" Xandra asks, speaking up. "I must return to Aunt Cal'syee and resume Empress duties." Unlike the others, the young royal wasn't going to stay on Krakoa permanently but she was allowed to visit whenever she wanted. Thanks to the New Mutants, Charles was aware of her presence and would like to get to know her better. Thus, having her here now.

"Yes daughter," said Charles, taking the lead. "Let me show you to the House of X."


	14. Father-Daughter Activities

All was dark in the Summer Home save for the starlight that shone through the windows, and the light that emanated from their newly installed television. From the combined efforts of Gabriel and Corsair, they somehow made it happen. _Praise be!_

Now Scott and his daughter sloppily occupied the couch, binge watching all the Twilight movies… for Rachel's sake. Scott wasn't invested whatsoever. Not at all, all he ever did was get upset at the mangy wolfman for stealing the pretty girl every now and then.

Okay, so maybe he was comparing the parallels between the love triangle in the movie to one he shared with Jean and Wolverine. There wasn't much to be drawn but oh, Scott was drawing circles. Currently he's not as bothered by Logan's infatuation with his wife as he used to be, Logan seemed to have moved on plenty of times before too. But it didn't stop him from being suspicious. That's why he rejected Jean's offer to invite Logan to live with them. The man had his own family, and by all means should be spending time with his children.

On another note, Logan and Scott got along fine here and there. But God was it so satisfying to see his face when Gabriel served him burnt steak.

Anywho, the father and daughter laid lazily with their legs sprawled haphazardly over the arms of the couch as Rachel levitated popcorn to their mouths. It was quite the sight to see. They were even wearing some leftover "Cyclops was Right" t-shirts leftover from a certain pink haired fanboy to go with their drawstring sweatpants. It was their Father-Daughter Day getup to let everyone in the house know to go away and leave the two alone.

"Hey daddy?" Rachel inquires in a slight monotone voice. It was getting late but she'll be damned if she doesn't finish these movies with her father.

"Yes dear?" Scott replied between yawns.

"When's the next Father-Daughter Day?" Rachel asked in response. She tilted her head up to look at Scott's shadowed form. Only the TV illuminated his features with a slight glare off of his ruby quartz glasses.

Scott gently lifts his glasses with his eyelids squeezed shut so he could run his eyes with the back of his hand. "Don't know sweetie, how about next weekend?"

"I thought next weekend was Father-Son Day for you and Nathan? Rachel objects, raising an ample brow. "You haven't forgotten have you?"

_"Whaaat?" _Scott snorts in disbelief. "No I haven't."

"Hm…" Rachel briefly skims the outer thoughts of his mind and comes to the conclusion that he has. "Liar." she states as she lazily punched his arm.

Scott sighs and rolls his head toward the ceiling. "Alright, alright, so I did. Just don't tell him that though."

Rachel laughed a bit, both out of deliriousness and at her father's forgetfulness. She knew he didn't mean any harm by it, but when you had to make up lost time for your time traveling kids, you did what you could. And Scott tried his very hardest.

"Daddy?" Rachel asks again. She shifted her position so she could look him directly in the face. Scott then felt his daughter's eyes on him and turned to look her way. "Yes dear?"

"I love you." said Rachel with her sparkly green eyes- her mother's eyes, and her father's smile. The comment came out of nowhere but it didn't go unwelcomed. In truth, she hardly said that to him and Scott's heart swelled. "I love you too." he replied, returning the smile.

He put an arm around her as they snuggled close and put their attention back onto the TV. And the whole rest of the night they stayed like that.

The next morning, Jean found them snoring on the couch with snacks littered around them while the select screen for the movie played on repeat. If it wasn't for the sweet sight, Jean would've been upset about the mess but she cleaned up after them anyway. She was careful not to wake them and even brought over a cozy blanket so they could sleep in for the day.

Jean would find a way to excuse Scott from his leadership duties in the time being, so Magik would have to pick up the slack. That was okay for Jean as she gave them a kiss to the cheek each, Father-Daughter Day was important. And God knows how much these two need it.


	15. Icarus

The Krakoan port inside of the Summer Home glowed as Charles Xavier entered from the other side. He decided to pay the Summers a surprise visit and see how they were coming along, but it seemed that they weren't home. They weren't on the island itself, so it would seem that they went out elsewhere.

It was early morning on Krakoa, but the time change was never apparent in the Summer Home aside from the artificial lighting.

Charles helped himself to take a look around, assuming that Scott wouldn't mind. The view was remarkable after all. He stepped into the living room and took off Cerebro to admire the Earth in all of it's grandeur when he noticed something. From the corner of his eye he noticed a slumped form of one Vulcan on the floor with a pool of drool forming around his mouth. It appeared that at least _one_ Summers was home after all.

The older man goes over and kneels by Gabriel's side to gently shake him awake when he notices the array of beer bottles surrounding him. "Oh Gabriel…" Charles looked at the man before him. A man who was much less a boy not so long ago.

He propped Gabriel up against the couch and he softly arose from his slumber.

_"Huh- _oh… blast it. I've done it again." he says, rubbing his eyes. Once they had adjusted to the lighting, Gabriel was surprised to see Charles Xavier kneeling aside him. He expected to see Scott or Alex, or maybe one of the kids but, this… this was unprecedented.

He snaps awake, quick to hide behind his shame. "Oh! Professor… um, I wasn't told you were visiting. If I had known, I would've tidied up-" Gabriel scrambles to his feet with instant regret as his hangover sets in. He tripped over his own feet, forcing Charles to catch him.

"Easy now Gabriel," says Charles, setting the former Emperor back down. "No need to hurt yourself."

Gabriel sighed and lulled his head sideways to look out the window. "Apologies…" he mumbled, averting his gaze. If looking at Charles whole he wore Cerebro was hard, it was definitely harder to look him in the eyes now.

"What for?" Charles inquires politely. "It was I who entered your home after all. I thought I'd surprise you all but it seems the others have gone."

Gabriel then explained to him how the rest of the family went to the beach (or something like that, he was too busy getting drunk the night before to pay attention.) So, he had the lunar home all to himself once again. He would've gone along too if it hadn't been for his newfound nasty habit. He even promised himself he wouldn't do it again, but here he was. It was the only way to get rid of the haunting memories he could think of.

"Ah, I see. It's good to hear that they're getting along fine." Charles comments. Gabriel simply grunted his agreement and fell silent.

Charles studied Gabriel for a moment as the young man's form nearly melted into the side of the couch. It was clear that he was embarrassed to be seen like this, even more so by someone like Charles. Even though their connection was fabricated through a time-skip of false memories (thanks to none other than Charles Xavier himself), Gabriel still felt that they were real. Even before then, Gabriel had looked up to this man and now… now he was looking up at him through a drunken stupor. He turned his head back and expected a lecture of sorts but all Charles did was softly shake his head.

"You are an adult now Gabriel. You do not need me to tell you about drinking." The old man stated plainly. The problem with that was, no one ever taught Gabriel much about real life anyway. And in his short life, he was married- even consummated it, and no one taught him anything. Well maybe someone should have considering that he and Deathbird weren't together anymore. Did she even know he didn't die? _Ah well, no matter. _

Gabriel opened his mouth in protest, to tell Charles all of that but he just closed it again and admitted that Charles was right. He usually was.

Charles gently ushered Gabriel back to his feet so he could at least get some water. Together, they shuffled toward the kitchen as Gabriel's stomach lurched at every step he took. He let out a hearty burp, much to either of their surprise.

"Pardon!" Gabriel exclaims, slapping a hand over his mouth. "It would seem that there are some fumes left inside of the tank… I'm sorry that you have to see me like this. I promise that I'm a steady burning flame… most of the time."

Okay, so maybe that was a lie and Charles didn't need to read Gabriel's mind to know it.

"Gabriel." Charles set him to lean on the kitchen counter and turned to give him a stern look. "Are you doing alright?"

A moment of silence ensued between the two men before Gabriel let out a loud chuckle. "Ha ha! Of course! Finally being with my family, I could be no better!" he replied heartily, projecting his voice. Doing so bolstered his confidence in his reply, so maybe he could believe it too. "The fire in me is ablaze with the love I share for my blood!"

It was true that Gabriel liked being with his family, and now that he had his friends back, everything should be fine.

But it wasn't.

"Gabriel." Charles stated firmly. "I had wished you could tell me anything by now. But it appears you have yet to trust me after all."

Gabriel sniffed and laid his cheek onto the hard and cool kitchen counter. His own body heat replaced the temperature in a matter of seconds and he began to feel hot with shame. "I'm sorry… " he mutters.

"Don't be."

Gabriel inwardly sighed. His stomach threatened to do somersaults as well. _It's hard not to._

_"You know, I could still hear you." _Charles replied I'm a telepathic message.

_"There's no need to close yourself from m-"_

_"Arg-!_ Get out!" Gabriel roars and throws up his mental barrier, causing Charles some pain. The old man held his head in one of his hands as he stumbled back.

"Please…" Gabriel whimpers. "Just leave me alone."

"Gabriel please, I can help you. If this has something to do with-"

Gabriel cut him off once more, this time throwing his hands back in contempt. _"No!"_

The rapid motion combined with Gabriel's hangover caused him to stumble back into some stools and land him squarely on his behind. "It's already bad enough that I have to be reminded of your betrayal every day I set foot on that island. I have already forgiven you… isn't that enough?"

The ceiling danced above Gabriel's head as the tile floor seemed to cave in.

"For once… this has nothing to do with you. So please, _please, _just let me be."

Charles frowned at the sad sight of his once pupil. "Gabe… seeing you like this, it'd be difficult not to assist. Now please," he reaches a hand toward Gabriel and with his other he pressed against his own temple. "If you simply allowed me to look…ah…"

Gabriel still kept his mental guards up and redirected the mental probing back into Charles' own head. "What is it Gabriel?" he asked. "What is it that you don't want me to see?"

"I don't even know!" Gabriel retorts. "I just keep seeing myself back at the Fault, and-" he narrowed his eyes, "I don't have to explain myself to you. This is _my_ home. Now I would appreciate it if you would carry on your merry way back to the damned island where you belong. And take your stupid helmet too."

Charles dipped his head with slight sorrow. "Very well then," he turned to leave and picked up Cerebro on his way out. "I'm sorry Gabriel. Truly."


	16. Sword

Everyone has heard the story about the sword in the stone, but what about the sword in the paw of the beast? Perhaps not, but this was how Nathan acquired his sword. Like any other teenager, the boy thought the sword with the blade as long as his torso was the coolest thing ever. Take it from the kid who wields giant guns. Coolest shit you've ever seen. Nathan Summers was living the life.

All he needed now was a trenchcoat and some more pouches.

So maybe he wanted to stop being the "gun guy." He thought he might try out this sword thing and give it a go. After all, old man Cable had the guns. If Nathan wanted to erase the image of himself being the baby version, he may as well create a new image for himself.

He's not Kid Cable.

He _is _Cable, and swords are his thing now so shut up!

Rachel definitely made fun of him when she found out. She asked if he was going to finally get rid of his gun hoard because those things took up too much space. Nathan hesitated to give her his reply. He still liked the guns and a part of him didn't want to get rid of them. Rachel pointed out that if he wanted to do the sword thing, he can no longer be the gun guy.

Something about this rubbed Nathan the wrong way. Rachel was right and that's reason enough to be upset all on its own. So what was the issue?

Nathan practiced using the sword on a dummy Corsair brought for him. With every swipe of the sword, a clattering sound followed.

He was-

_Thwack!_

Doing the-

_Thwack!_

Sword thing-

_Thwack! _

**Now!**

Nathan let his weapon fall to the ground in defeat, followed by his knees. He told himself to quit being a baby. There was nothing wrong with keeping the guns anyway. But his predicament ran deeper than that.

He sat there with his knees to the ground as his eye crackled with contempt. It did that sometimes. Usually in a state of intense emotions.

_And boy was he having some intense emotions. _

At hearing the sound of metal slapping into the ground, his mother hurried over to his side. She asked him if he was alright, if he was hurt. He simply shook his head. He told her no. He told her that he was fine.

_Fine. _

Jean didn't need to have powers to know that was false. As she needed was a mother's intuition. She asked him again if he was doing alright, boring her eyes into his. Mothers had a way of doing that, of getting information that they want. Maybe it was the guilt you feel for making them worried.

And the last thing Nathan wants to do is have Jean worried about him. So, he tells her. Nathan tells her that he isn't Kid Cable. Why can't people see that? Sure he's young, but that doesn't mean anything. Old Cable is gone. He's _dead._

_Literally. _Nathan kinda killed him. There's a story there to be told and frankly, it's really messed up.

Jean told him that he can be whatever he wants to be but in the end he'll always be her Nathan Christopher Charles. Now this would've been the part where he groaned and whined about how corny that statement was, but it was true. No matter what version of him he was, his mother would always love him.

So it was okay if he wasn't the gun guy. Guns were old Cable's thing.

So it was okay if he was trying out the sword thing. Trying new things never hurt anybody (except whoever's going to be on the other end of that sword), and unless it doesn't work out for him, he could always go back.

No matter what, he was going to show the work that he _is _Cable. He _is _the son of Cyclops. He _is _the Askani'son.

He _is _where he belongs. And right now, this sword belongs in his hand.


	17. Xavier Home Pt 2: Electric Boogaloo

_"Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair [Krakoa] we lay our scene. From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean." (Romeo and Juliet)_

At least that's how David remembered the quote as he watched his neighbors over at the House of M. Wouldn't you know it, his father chose to live nearby his old friend who also happened to be his old enemy. No wrong could come out of that.

None.

Alright so maybe David and little Charles had already got up to throwing tin cans at Magneto whenever they saw him exit. He was the Master of Magnetism, so what was the harm? Of course, their father only blamed David because little Charles has horns holding up his halo. Like Xandra, Charles II can do no wrong in his eyes. Everyone who was at the Jean Grey and New Xavier Schools would beg to differ. Or anyone who opposed him in his future for that matter.

This time David was sent inside on his own as some sort of punishment. Apparently his father didn't realize that David was a grown man, or maybe he simply refuses to acknowledge it. Which is ironic because this is a _child's _punishment, and Charles has never known David as a kid _child. _

These were the kinds of things David audibly complained about whenever Charles wasn't in the room (and in the House of X, there were a _lot _of rooms. Go big or go home as they always say.)

Sometimes his uncle Cain complained with him. Granted, most of Cain's gripes with Charles were provoked but it didn't stop him there. Once, while Charles was having a meeting with the Council, and everyone else was having dinner, he shared how his brother used to use his powers to cheat at sports.

"Pff- _him? _Playing sports? I can hardly believe it." came David's reaction as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm more surprised that he cheated." little Charles remarks dully. The boy held a cup of tea in his lap. It was quite obvious why he was named Charles the Second.

"Well yous two better believe it." Cain states. "Charlie would come home with a trophy he didn't even deserve. You should've seen the case, stock full of lies. Polished so that it almost shined bright as that bald head of his."

David started to laugh before realizing that it was inappropriate considering the company in the room. "Ha- wait, that's not funny…" His eyes darted to look at little Charles. "S'not funny at all…"

Charles II sniffed and raised his nose to the ceiling.

David gave a sheepish grin and put his hands up in self defence. "Ooh… sorry." he said. He wanted to be a good brother to make up for all the wrongs of their absentee father. Besides, he never had siblings before now. He at least had to give them a chance.

Charles II only peered at David from behind his nose without another statement.

"Well I'm not sorry." Cain states.

In an attempt to avoid conflict between the two, David brought the conversation back toward the story. "For someone who's uptight for not using their powers for selfish gain, I'm surprised he had done so himself."

Cain snorts in response. "Don't ya know that he's a hypocrite?"

David opened his mouth to defend his father but realized he had nothing good about him to say in that regard. He simply sighed and voiced his agreement.

"Even now he could be lying to us."

Silence ensued as the three traded glances with one another. Charles II in particular felt the most uncomfortable. Growing up, he was conditioned listening to the good things Charles Xavier has done. Now he was hearing all of this naysaying and didn't know how to feel about it. These were people who knew Charles better than he did. _Who the hell is this man?_

David was the first to break the silence. "Well if he were lyin' ta us, certainly someone on this whole island would know. Right…? Everyone here is so happy. Our neighbors are the goddamned Magnus Family! Maybe he's finally done it for mutant kind."

"I think so." agrees Charles II. "Why else would we all be here?"

More silence.

Why _exactly _were they here? David at least had a job to do. Except, Charles hadn't told him what that job was supposed to be. Instead, David just watched The Five do their thing every now and again.

Cain shifted his massive weight. "I still don't completely trust him."

David knits his brows together in consideration. "Think someone oughtta follow 'im around?" he asks, looking to the others."

"No!" Charles II protests. "Are you mad?"

"Yes actually," David replied, without missing a beat. "Now I think-"

David gets cut off by the sound of Charles entering the household. The man himself was greeted with a gaggle of expressions.

"Hi, hello. We weren't talkin' about you." said David, ever the inconspicuous.

Charles narrowed his eyes from behind Cerebro, tempted to probe David's mind, but he didn't. It went against his morals. Besides, it was kinda a mess in there. "Right…"

David slumps his shoulders in mock defeat. "Okay, so you caught us. We were talkin' about how you apparently played sports back in the day."

"I did, actually." Charles replies. "It's important to keep a balance between mind and body…"

He goes on about physical and mental health, carefully keeping out the fact that he cheated. It was a long and boring speech, in which Cain gave David the death glare for spurring this on.

But it didn't matter anyway, David was too busy formulating a plan to shadow his father the next day. And with Charles going on like this, he wouldn't have a clue.


	18. Mom

Today, three brothers come together to remember their lost mother, and in the youngest's case, he was learning about her. Gabriel hadn't the privilege of getting to know his mother, but he mourned her death just the same. For he was torn out of her womb mere moments after she was stabbed to death. All for his father to bear witness.

Their father had decided to skip out on joining them because he couldn't take the renewed sense of grief. So the three brothers just swapped stories of her and drank together.

Her name was Katherine Ann Summers and little did she know that she gave birth to a legacy. Or maybe she gave birth to lunacy considering the beaten paths some of her sons and those after them had taken.

Elsewhere, son and daughter of Scott and Jean Summers had decided to treat their mother with a gift.

While Scott and his brothers stayed on the moon, the children took their mother down to Krakoa. They dragged her through the foliage, insisting that she kept her eyes closed.

She mentioned how this was silly and that she "really hated surprises" but she went along anyway.

Once there, the children had taken her to a clearing and instructed that she open her eyes now.

Eyes fluttering open, Jean bears witness to a statue of herself erected in the middle. This statue was not unlike the one from the old Jean Grey School but somehow, they managed to get their hands on it unharmed.

She was shocked and asked them what the point of the statue was now, now that she isn't dead anymore. Now that there wasn't a school.

They had replied that no matter what, their mother should be honored. It took a lot for them to gain happiness, and Jean deserved it for staying strong. They each thank her for what she has done for them, especially Nathan who remembers Jean raising him in the barren future. For teaching him how to use his powers, and for teaching him how to keep the virus at bay no matter how much it hurt.

This had brought tears to Jean's eyes. She didn't give birth to either of these children, but it didn't matter.

She was Jean Elaine Grey-Summers, and she was their mother in all ways that mattered.

Happy Mother's Day.


	19. Summers Brothers Pizza Parlor

"Scott, what in the world are you doing?" asks a bewildered Jean as her husband stood in the entryway of the kitchen with a ridiculous getup. He wore his normal costume with an apron over it that bore the words, _"Kiss the X-Man" _with the signature symbol "X" of the X-Men.

His gloved hands were caked with flour, and a bit even got onto his nose. And despite it all, Scott wore a stoic expression. "What exactly do you mean dear?" he asks in return.

"I _mean, _why exactly am I getting kicked out of the kitchen. I thought I was making dinner?" Jean clarifies, folding her arms over her chest. "You know how I feel about people in my kitchen."

Scott sighed and hung his head low. "Gambit never fully recovered."

"Right." Jean wiped the bit of flour from her husband's nose. "So what's going on in there?"

Just as she asks the question, a metal plate clatters onto the floor followed by Alex shouting the words "sorry!"

_"Scott."_

"It's alright Jean." Scott reassured, putting a hand on her shoulder. He soon realized that he left a flour handprint on her costume and quickly retracted it. "Listen, Alex and I had this thing about opening a pizza parlor- don't look at me like that- and we decided we were going to make pizza tonight. With Gabriel."

Jean's jaw dropped. _"Gabe's _in there?! Scott, we _just_ fixed the kitchen from last week's fire incident!"

"Like I said," Scott states firmly, "everything is under control."

"Scott I think I got garlic powder in my eyes." comes Alex's voice once more, causing Scott to flinch. _Oops. _

Jean placed a hand on her hip and raised a brow. "Does that sound like it's under control?" she questions, trying to peer around him. "Look, do you even know how to cook, Scott? Because when no one else is around to cook for you, all you eat is soup and cereal."

Scott returns the remark with an offended expression while holding a hand over his chest. "I happen to _like_ soup and cereal," he declares.

At that moment, Alex pokes his head around to back Scott up, eyes squinting from the garlic powder. "Have you seen this guy eat soup? He inhales it like it's fucking water."

Jean rolled her eyes. "I'm married to him, so unfortunately yes, I've seen him inhale soup. But that's besides the point." She shakes her head and shoves past her husband and Alex to get a glimpse of the madness for herself.

And the sight of the kitchen… was certainly one to behold. On one side you have where Scott was working. Neat, organized, very Scott-like. On the other, you have Alex. Messy, unrefined, very Alex-like. Then you have Gabriel, who was playing with fire. He manipulated the fire's energy between his fingers, not noticing that Jean had entered the kitchen until after a long stretch of silence.

"Oh-" Gabriel returned the fire to it's rightful place and held his hands behind his back, "hullo fiery one. Er, how long have you been standing there?"

Jean sighed once more and used her telekinesis to restore the kitchen back into order. "Alright you boys, out of the kitchen."

"But Jean-" Scott protests.

Jean whipped around and jabbed a finger at the exit, her eyes glowing with Omega-Level power. _"Out." _she growled and all three men listened.

"Well boys, looks like we're never opening that pizza parlor." Alex remarks. He stood between Scott and Gabe, resting his elbows on their shoulders.

Jean brings a damp towel over to gently clean at Alex's eyes. Of course, he doesn't take being babied lightly and just does it himself.

"Not at this rate you're not. You can't even handle the kitchen, let alone find free time to own a restaurant while simultaneously going on missions." Jean retorts. At this point she had turned off the oven and everything was cleaned.

"That's what I said." Gabriel comments snidely, lifting his chin up. This caused Alex to jab at his brother's ribs in an annoyed fashion. "Well no one _asked _you now did they?"

Gabriel rubbed at his side and stayed silent.

"See that?" Jean crossed her arms and leaned back on the counter. "You can't even work together either."

"To be fair honey, you don't work well with others in the kitchen either." Scott points out, earning himself a glare. He then quickly shut his mouth and let Jean continue.

"What I'm saying is, is that you have no coordination. While Scott's over there doing one thing, Alex is over there doing the same but the completely wrong way."

_"Hey!"_

"Not to mention Gabriel not contributing at all." Jean adds.

Gabriel blinks, having heard his name. "What? Oh, _hey!"_

In actuality, he wasn't paying attention.

"And you Scott," Jean turned to uom with a raised brow. "Isn't leading your strong suit? Why don't you apply it to this? It'll at least keep my kitchen clean."

"Jean." Scott starts, wholeheartedly. "You know exactly what it's like working with these two on the same team. It's hit or miss."

The two turn to look at Scott as Alex took his arm off of him. "Wow…" Alex mumbles. "That hurts man."

"I am thoroughly offended." Gabriel tacked on, placing a hand on his hip.

For a few moments of silence they- or at least Alex- pretends to stay mad at Scott until Alex bursts out laughing. He wheezes nearly doubling over, "Sorry… is this _really _a conversation we're having right now whole Slim's wearing that ridiculous apron?"

Scott gives him a confused look. "You gave me this!"

This made Alex laugh even harder. "I saw it and thought of you because it's stupid!"

"You told me it was going to be our uniform! Gabriel, are you hearing this?" Scott turned to his younger brother who made an attempt to hold his laughter. He slowly nodded and shifted his gaze to the ground. _"Mhm."_

Alex snorts, "Heh, he should know because he was there."

"Unbelievable. Jean's right, I gotta get out of here." Scott unties the apron for himself and balls it up.

Alex practically choked on his laughter, clinging onto Gabriel's side. _"Scott please- I can't breathe…" _He goes into a coughing fit. _"Kek, _please come back… I can't- you're _killing _me!"

Gradually, Gabriel joined in on the joking. "Heh… heh, peace brother, it was only the prank!"

Unamused, Jean rolled her eyes and brought Scott back into the fray. "It's alright Scott." she says. "Just start over. You and the boys can start making dinner again, but this time I'll help, okay?" She offered him an encouraging smile that he couldn't say no to.

"Alright…" Scott pressed the balled up apron into Alex's chest, implying that he'd be the one wearing it this time. "Let's try Summers Brothers Pizza Parlor again… this time with a Mrs. Summers."


	20. Hope's Campfire Fairy Tale

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_**I wonder what voice you hear whenever you read these notes. **_**But that's not why I'm here. I'm here because I've run into another problem. That's right, Hope Summers. Other than being a part of The Five, Hickman and friends haven't really done much with here and while DoX and related titles have been put on pause… I can only wait so long to interpret characters the right way. So, like Vulcan I'm going to put my spin on her. Last time I really paid attention to Hope was in AvX and I particularly remember the relationship she had with the Scarlet Witch in which (haha) they put aside their differences to disperse the Phoenix. I don't know if Hope's view of Wanda has changed since then, especially with Wanda being viewed as a "pretender" and public enemy of mutants now. (I wonder if good ole Magnus would let his kids come live with him because screw the whole not related thing.)**

**Anyway, this note is getting long. This chapter will be slightly unusual because I want a spiritual successor to "Kitty's Fairy Tales" or "Jubilee's Fairytale Theatre." So let me know of what you think of it. **

**"Now for something completely different!"**

* * *

Night slowly crept in on Krakoa as the stars began to shine from between the trees. Many mutants decided to turn in that night save for Hope Summers and a few children.

Hope watched as the children had gathered around the campfire from afar, waiting for Exodus to join them. Exodus had somewhat become the resident storyteller in which he used the position to scare the children most of the time. His most popular stories, being about the Scarlet Witch.

Now everybody knows what Wanda had done to the mutants. Everybody knows those three words. Those words were only said in a hushed whisper or with a look of agony.

Because of Exodus' stories (which were in fact true, Hope had to give him that) everyone was filled with renewed hate for the Scarlet Witch. But they fail to acknowledge what she has done to redeem herself. If it had not been for Wanda, Hope could have been turned into the Dark Phoenix. Without Wanda, Hope wouldn't have been able to dispel the force from within her. Which is why Hope had a respect for Wanda.

Her mouth went dry whenever mutants of Krakoa would disrespect her. But Hope never said anything in the Witch's defence. It was true that Wanda had thrown a wrench into everything the mutants and X-Men have built in the past but… if Apocalypse can be forgiven, if _Exodus _himself- the very peddler of these stories can be forgiven… why can't she?

Hope softly shook her head to herself. It would seem that Exodus was later than usual tonight. Could have something to do with the Council (as he was a part of Winter), or maybe he simply lost track of time.

Maybe…

Maybe Hope should step in here. She wasn't exactly a storyteller, but how hard could it be? Being a part of The Five doesn't give her much to do in long stretches of time, so it couldn't hurt.

Hope heaved herself up from beneath a tree and sauntered over to the group of children by the campfire. With fire illuminating their young features, they regarded her with awe. As a member of The Five, she was practically holy and highly regarded. It took some getting used to but Hope ignored it.

"Hello." Hope greets warmly. She wanted the children to feel comfortable and treat her normally.

In reply, the children echoed their hellos.

"Alright then…" Hope dipped her head, "Well since Exodus is taking his time, why don't I tell you a story?"

The children exchange glances and murmur amongst one another.

Hope smiled and sat in the spot usually reserved for Exodus. "I'll take that as a yes." she said, clearing her throat. "Now then… where do we begin? Let's see-"

"There once was an old king who had two sons. One, the Heir whom he acknowledged as his son, and the other the Protege, whom he treated like one. The two sons clamored for their father's affection by trying to please him. But only the Protege was trained in the ways of peace, whilst the Heir slowly descended into madness as his magic power grew…"

One of the children interrupts Hope and raises their hand. "This story sounds fake." he says, voiced pitched high with youth.

"Well maybe it is, and I'm just making it up… or maybe I'm not." Hope winks at him and continues her story.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

The King consulted his royal vizier, a woman shrouded in a dark cloak save for a golden mask spattered with dried blood. He asked her what he should do with the Heir as he was slowly beginning to spin out of control.

"Put him away." The Vizier instructs. "The time will come when we will deal with him. For now, there are more pressing matters." She motioned toward the throne room entryway as the Protege came bursting into the doors. She faded from sight, not to be seen by any other than the King.

The King then puts his attention onto the Protege. He seems to have brought another person with him. "What is it my boy?" The King asked. "You seem troubled."

"The Duke of Magnus has attacked the outer borders of the city!" exclaimed the Protege as he knelt before his king. "He demands to know where his daughter Lorna has disappeared off to… he thinks _we _have taken her."

The King arched a brow. "Sounds like you know more to the story than you let on."

The Protege flinched. "Aye my king… his daughter fled with my brother."

"What?"

"They have fallen in love…" the Protege supplied in anguish. "I promised my brother I wouldn't disclose their secret, but this has gone on for too long!"

"And who have you brought before me?" the King asks, referring to the figure that has yet to kneel before him. The figure was dressed in garish scarlet garb with a hood that hid their features.

"This is the Duke's eldest daughter, sir. She wishes to help." The Protege replies.

The figure removes their hood to reveal the face of a young woman. "They call me the Witch sir, and… I no longer wish to serve under my father." The Witch then bows out of reverence. "If need be, I will fight against him and my brother."

She appeared sincere, and if the Protege believed in her, the King will as well.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"So then what happened?" asked the same kid from earlier. Despite earlier doubts about the story, he and the others have become quite invested into it.

"For many days and nights the King's army fought against the Duke of Magnus and his forces." Hope replied as she leaned forward to catch their attention. "Each side was growing tired but neither would back down. Horrified by the bloody battle, the Duke's daughter Lorna returned and cried out against her father. She even brought the Protege's brother, the Knight named Somers whom she fell in love with. She pleaded with the Duke that to bring peace, allow her to marry Somers in wedlock. That way, the two sides would be joined. Somers may not be royalty, but his brother the Protege was revered as one. But the Duke of Magnus refused."

As Hope spoke, the light illuminating from the fire licked at her face and she lowered her tone for more dramatic effect. It seemed to work because the children were at the edge of their seats.

"The Duke of Magnus wanted to keep fighting, furious that Lady Lorna would fall for the enemy. She was cast aside, thrown under her brother's care and worried for her sister's safety, the Witch went to confront him."

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

The battle waged all around them as the Witch went with the company of Somers to track down the Son of Magnus and Lady Lorna.

The two were at the top of a hill, overseeing the battle below as Lady Lorna watched in tears. Despite her cries to persuade her brother to free her, the Son of Magnus refused. He stayed vigilant just as his father commanded.

As they drew close, Somers instructed the Witch to get behind him. He held his sword the _Havoc _in a defensive position while confronting the Son of Magnus. "Release her Son of Magnus, or you shall have _Havoc _take your soul." Somers declares.

"We shall see about that Somers." The Son of Magnus drew _Quicksilver _a long and thin blade opposed to the generic build of _Havoc. _The two men engage in a swordfight, too busy to pay attention as the Witch goes to free Lady Lorna.

The loyal Knight Somers held well against the Son of Magnus, but the Son was too fast for him. The Son of Magnus didn't leave time for Somers to think of his next attack while already preparing his next move. _Quicksilver _licked at Somers' flesh while the Son of Magnus barely had any wounds.

Whilst this was happening, the Witch levitated Lady Lorna's binds away and Lorna leaped into action. As the Son of Magnus had Somers on the ground, ready to deal the final blow, Lady Lorna screeched for him to stop.

Lady Lorna held out her hands and _Quicksilver _flew into the air away from its master.

"What kinds of sorcery…" the Son of Magnus turned toward his younger sister in both awe and anger. "Lorna, you-"

But it was too late, the Son of Magnus never got to finish his sentence as Somers plunged _Havoc _into his back.

His sisters screamed at Somers, seeing their brother fall dead to the ground.

"I-i'm sorry…" Somers stutters, letting _Havoc _fall out of his hands.

"No!" the Witch shouts, "No more! _No more fighting!"_

And like that, a powerful surge of magic expelled out of the Witch, permeating across the kingdom. The spell had caused many to suddenly drop dead like flies, the first of which being the Protege as he gave a battle report to the King in the castle.

The Protege sunk to his knees as his heart stopped, prompting for the King to get up and rush over to his side. That day, the King wept tears for his "son" as the Heir watched from the shadows.

The last one to die would be the Knight Somers as he stumbled into the arms of Lady Lorna. Lorna sobbed as the Witch looked numbly at what she had done. She felt empty and mortified, unsure of what to do. She didn't even know _how_ she was able to cast such a spell.

After a while Lorna's tears came to an unnatural stop as the atmosphere began to slow. The Witch cautiously turns to look behind her where she sees the King's vizier accompanied by the Heir and a glowing stranger. She didn't hear them come walking up, so they must've used magic to teleport in.

The Witch threw a cautious glance at her sister.

Lady Lorna was frozen in time, caught in an expression of pure anguish.

"You can fix this." The Vizier offers, "Or you can allow me to fix this."

The Witch's voice cracked with apprehension. "I… I… I don't know how."

The Vizier dipped her shrouded head. "Very well then." She turns toward the Heir and the glowing stranger. "Legion. Proteus. Undo this conundrum and I shall see that you get what you wish."

The Heir, now going by a new name, exchanged a glance with the stranger presumably named Proteus. Together they hold out their hands and cast a reverse spell that not only brings all back to the realm of the living, but brings peace across the land.

The next morning, the people of the land wake up in their comfortable beds wondering what happened to the war. One moment they were fighting, and the next they were all in their homes. By the order of the King's enforcers they all gather in the square to hear the good word.

With the Duke of Magnus at his side, the King declares, "The world changed while you were all asleep." as the royal vizier looked on from her hidden place.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

"No one has seen or heard from the Witch again, but legend has it, that she roams the hills in constant mourning of her sin. Banished from the Kingdom forever. Her brother, no longer referring to himself as the Son of Magnus had chosen to stay with her. As for the Heir and Proteus they were revered as heroes and were celebrated for their efforts. Somers and the Protege were united once more in time for Somers' wedding with Lady Lorna. The people of the kingdom were happy, unaware of the looking presence from behind the King's throne."

Hope concludes her story, suddenly aware of Exodus' eyes boring into her back. Nevertheless, she smiled and bid the children goodnight despite their _"aws" _of disapproval. "C'mon guys." Hope said as she stood up. "I can see how tired you are. Doesn't seem like there's going to be time for a story from Exodus."

She turns toward the man and gives him a faux frown. "Sorry…"

"Can you tell us stories from now on?" pipes up one of the children.

"Hm, we'll see about that. Isn't that right Exodus?"

Exodus forced a smile out of himself, "Why of course Hope Summers, I would hate to disappoint the children."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, an author's note at the end of the chapter? That's mad! Anywho, I know this veered away from the Summers family, but I hope that the fact that Hope (hehe) was telling the story would forgive that. I know that she doesn't live in the Summer Home, but she's still part of the family. I hope you guys liked this chapter because it's the 20th one and I really wanted it to be a banger. Anyways, peace out and always remember… Cyclops was right. **


	21. Yearbook

"Oh _daaaad _look what I found!" Rachel chimes as she spun into the main living room. _"Moooom!"_

Her parents turned to face her from the couch. They were attempting to watch TV while Nathan held the antennae in different positions to get a better signal. The boy was grateful for the distraction because his arm started to feel heavy.

"What do you have there sweetheart?" Scott asked.

"I found you and mom's yearbook in the storage room!" Rachel presented said yearbook as if it were the sacred texts by levitating it toward her parents.

Scott scoffed and turned away. "Oh Rachel, put that thing away. That yearbook is more of a pamphlet if anything. There were only five of us in that class."

"There's no harm in taking a peak." Jean said lightly.

"Yeah dad," Rachel adds. "You have nothing to be afraid of, except this!" The younger redhead flips through the yearbook to the class photos and points to the one of Scott. The teenage Scott in the photo wore a blue sweater vest over a polo that would have gotten him beat up for lunch money. Not to mention the dinky little bowtie that went with it. Even his glasses reflected the glare off of the camera. _What a look. _

Nathan attempted to stifle his laughter. "There's no way that's you. It's not possible to look like _that _much of a square."

Scott rolled his eyes from behind his Ruby quartz glasses. "It was the style back then." he muttered. "The other guys wore similar things."

"Yeah but no one can pull it off quite like you dad." Rachel teased, then pointing to the pictures of the other first class males. "Angel wore a whole suit, and wow, look at that smile. What the hell were you doing in your photo dad?" asked Rachel.

Compared to Warren Worthington's award winning smile, Scott Summers had an awkward grin and a little wave of his hand. The others had good photos too. Bobby Drake shot finger guns toward the camera while Hank McCoy had a fairly standard photo. It was also taken before he had all the blue fur.

"Enough Rachel, I think your father looks handsome in that photo." Jean says, partly out of pity and nostalgia.

"Easy for you to say mom. You look great!" Rachel pointed to her mother's photo which was easily the best out of the batch. She wore a green dress with a matching beret that brought out her red hair. She also wore a pretty smile.

Scott frowned. "So I'm the only one who looks like a…"

"A chump?" Nathan supplies with an arched brow.

_"Yes…"_ Scott admits through gritted teeth.. "A _chump."_

Jean placed a kind hand onto Scott's. "That's not true, you've got good photos in there. I'm sure of it."

"We'll see about that." Rachel flipped through the yearbook, and Scott was right. It was more of a pamphlet due to the sheer lack of photos, but in nearly every other photo Scott was in, he wasn't smiling or the glare took him out of the picture.

Rachel snorted at their graduation photo in which they all wore their costumes with an added graduation cap. This was one of the ones where Scott's face was obscured by glare. But beside him, Jean looked as good as ever.

"I can't believe these got printed." snickered Rachel.

Scott crossed his arms in contempt. "That's because Charles is cheap."

"The Danger Room was very expensive to maintain." Jean added. Expenses had to be cut somewhere, and they were definitely cut in the first class' yearpamphlet.

"Stupid yearpamphlet." Scott mumbled. "I thought I got rid of mine."

"It could have been mom's." Nathan points out innocently.

Scott softly shook his head and sighed. "No… it's mine. I'm sure of it because I got no signatures."

Jean averted her gaze to the ceiling. "Well… it might be a few years too late, but if you want, I could sign it now." she offered sheepishly.

"Oh that's precious if not pathetic." said Scott.

"Not as pathetic as you in the ninth grade." Rachel chastised. "Good God you must've been a teacher's pet, did you really push him around in the wheelchair _all _the time?"

Scott refrained from going absolutely libid. "Yes." he groaned as his two children laughed at him. "I'm disowning you two by the way."

Jean looked at him with her jaw agape. "Scott!"

Scott waved his hand in dismissal. "I don't mean it. I just feel like I'm always made fun of in this house."

"Dad. Visor glare. It's hilarious." Rachel says.

"It's okay dear," Jean assured her husband. "You're never _not _going to be made fun of."

Scott raised a brow, barely visible from his glasses. "I didn't expect you to say that." he said.

Jean gave an airy laugh in response. "You have to admit, the pictures are very funny. It builds character, look at you now."

"I see a man whose children do not respect him."

"We respect you dad." said Nathan with a smile. "Takes a lot of guts to wear a sweater vest."

"See what I mean Jean."

"You know what, I'll just… sign this and call it a day." Jean levitated a pen and signed a random page in Scott's yearbook/pamphlet.

"Gee thanks." Scott said sardonically. "Now Rachel, bury that deep into the storage closet where no one else would find it. Or better yet, burn it."

"More like it's going into my personal library!" Rachel joked as she levitated herself away.

"Rachel!"

"You cannot stop me! The world needs to see this!" Rachel shouted back.

Scott hung his head low. "Oh my God."

"You okay dad?" Nathan asked.

"Go back to positioning the antenna."


	22. Cactus

"Hello family!" Scott greeted as he entered from the orchid portal. He was in an uncharacteristically good mood and quite frankly, it was terrifying. If one knows Scott Summers, he hardly ever smiles, unless he's around his wife but this is different. It was almost ghoulish.

He held a potted plant behind him and awaited his reply.

In response to his greeting his two children groaned from where they sat. Nathan seemed to be polishing his new sword and Rachel sat there because… _because. _

This caused Scott's garish smile to falter as he addressed the unenthusiasm. "Wow," he says. "It really is true, everyone in this house lives to spite me."

Nathan rolled his eyes. "Dad if you were excited about something it's not worth _us _getting excited about it too."

Scott knit his brows together as he tried to decipher his son's sentences. "Wha— what's that's supposed to mean?"

"In other words dad," said Rachel. "You're boring."

"What?"

"But we still love you anyway." Rachel quickly supplied.

Scott's jaw fell agape. "But don't you want to know what I have?" he asked, somewhat taken aback.

Scott's wife who happened to pop into the room happily gives her answer. "I do dear."

In order to humour him, his kids played along while feigning interest.

"Gee dad, I _wonder_ what you got there." said Rachel sarcastically. "The anticipation is _really_ eating me.

Given the okay, Scott proudly presents his plant.

"It's a cactus."

Scott smiled. "I know Nathan."

"Great, I'm bored again, Rach' what's on TV?" Nathan asked as he physically deflated.

Jean had a different reaction.

She walked over and took the potted cactus with a wide grin on her face. "It's like the one you've given me on Valentine's Day all those years ago." she said.

Scott nods enthusiastically. "Yeah! I'm surprised your memory doesn't suit you better Nathan, don't you know the significance of the cactus?"

Nathan turned back to look at his father with a deadpan expression. "Must represent your personality." he snarks.

His father simply ignored the statement and explained.

"Don't you remember when your mother and I time traveled to raise you as Slym and Redd? One time we were trekking through the desert, practically on our last limbs… I carried you on my back and weak, your mother also leaned on me. Not to mention that my leg was injured from a previous battle, so I walked with a limp the entire time."

"We were so tired that we had almost given up, but we had to keep going. Just a few more steps I kept saying, but we went on for miles. Once we had sat down to rest, weary and dying of thirst, you had woken up. You were practically terrified. I told you that if a cactus could survive out there in the desert, so could we."

Nathan blinked as his foggy memory cleared up. Sure he was asleep for most of that ordeal, but now he remembers the quote about the cactus. Then he must've fell right back to sleep after that because his memory ends there.

"Oh," Nathan uttered. "Yeah I can see how that's important now."

The boy shrank into himself sheepishly.

The story fortified how strong their family bond was, and if anything, it proves that Scott was the very rock. Bringing a cactus into their new home was very appropriate.

The earlier chastising of their father felt very uncouth now. Even Rachel fell silent and she wasn't even there for that.

"Well I think it's lovely Scott." Jean supplied to fill in the silence. "Rachel why don't you help me pick a spot for it?"

Following her mother, the two redheads leave father and son alone.

"You know, back then you really looked up to me." Scott said softly.

Nathan's mouth felt dry. "I still do," he assured. "No amount of teasing would change that."

Scott smiled genuinely. "I know. Sometimes it just feels like you don't. You _or _Rachel. But I know you don't mean to."

His father held out an arm for an embrace and Nathan felt compelled to partake in it.

He hated saying it, but he had to.

"I love you dad."

This was true.

"I love you too son."

This was also true.

"Just one more thing."

Nathan raised his head enough so that he could look at Scott. "Yeah?"

"Am I really that boring?"

Now _that _was up to discussion.


	23. First Class

It has been a long time since Charles Xavier's first band of merry mutants have sat down and really hung out again. So, it was Jean's decision to invite them over to the Summer Home. Think of it as their second housewarming party if they hadn't already spent it with Corsair the Starjammers first.

Granted, most of them had jobs to do like how Jean worked for the Quiet Council or how Scott had his place as one of the Great Leaders. Others such as Bobby Drake better known as Iceman traveled around as a Marauder, and Hank McCoy (Beast) as part of data analysis. Whatever that means. Warren Worthington on the other hand didn't really have a specific place as of yet but he wasn't going to let on how he hasn't contributed to the greater good of Krakoa. He just hid it with his charming smile and charisma and his friends overlooked it.

It was nice to be together once more, and for a numerous amount of reasons, Charles wasn't invited. Not only because he was swamped with work, but who really wants to drink with an imposing mentor figure around? Vulcan was definitely thankful for that.

Speaking of Gabriel Summers, he felt uneasy trying to socialize with the First Class, mutants who he had vast respect for, but respect that had diminished at one point in his life. Even living in the Summer Home, Gabe found it hard to be around Jean by the least, so being around the other three was immensely difficult.

Alex on the other hand spent a lot of time with these mutants and shared in their endeavor of being trapped on Krakoa initially before the Second Class (really the third if you count Gabriel and his friends) came to save them. Lorna Dane or Polaris also shared in this experience and was even invited to come over all well but she politely refused as she always did. Must have something to do with Alex.

No matter. The five of them and the rest of the Summers clan congregated around the dining area, swapping stories from the last time they saw each other while lightly commenting how nice the view from space was.

Cyclops did pick one helluva view.

At some point during the night, Nathan and Rachel joined in on telling stories. And while out of the two, Rachel had spent more time with the original five, that didn't stop Nathan from oversharing.

As a matter of fact, they did have a vague memory of this Cable sending their time displaced teenage selves back where they belong but that's quite it. Bobby, Hank, and Warren weren't quite used to the idea of old man Cable being dead and having this wet behind the ears Cable being around. Especially since this kid killed the older one.

God, it seemed everything surrounding Nathan Summers had to be overly complicated.

Nonetheless, it didn't change their view that Nathan wasn't nothing more than "Kid Cable." Didn't help that when he was retelling the story of how he found his sword that he had a voice crack.

By the look on their faces, Nathan could tell they wanted to laugh. In Rachel's case, she actually snorted, eliciting some chuckles from Bobby Drake.

This caused Jean to come to her son's aid, saving him some of the embarrassment.

"That was nice Nathan, how about you step off the soapbox for a moment hm?" she offers.

Nathan frowned and did exactly that, taking his seat next to his sister. They exchanged some swats at each other before settling down.

Warren stirred and rested his elbow on his knees, nursing his beer in his hand. "A sword you say. Wasn't old Cable all about guns?"

"Yeah," Bobby chimes in. "Aren't you from the future? Wouldn't a sword be a little too _archaic?"_

Nathan sharply inhaled and turned toward the two with an expression between a strange smile and wide dilated eyes. "It wouldn't matter anyway when I stab the two of you with my sword." he said ominously.

Warren and Bobby exchange nervous glances because one could never be sure with somebody named Cable.

Scott decides to intervene and alleviate the tension. "Ookay… Nathan, how about you bring us some chips from the kitchen alright?"

"Get it yourself." Nathan mumbled.

Now it was Scott's turn to give the death glare. You didn't need to see his eyes to know it, his looks could actually kill. One step farther and Scott might've blasted Nathan where he sat.

Quickly, Nathan sprang up from his seat. "Right of course father, right away." he said and he departed toward the kitchen.

Then Scott turned back toward the others and changed the subject. "So Bobby," he says. "How are things with being on the Marauders?"

Bobby's eyes went vacant. "Kitty's dead."

_"Oh."_

"She can't be resurrected."

Scott then quickly turned to Hank before things could get too awkward, "So how is data analysis?"

"As you would imagine it to be." Hank replies curtly. Seems that Alex wasn't the only one with a growing attitude problem. More so than ever, Hank has been growing increasingly distant and strayed farther than his initial pacifist disposition. It was very worrisome but no one made light of it.

"Learn anything new about Krakoa?" Scott asked as a follow up question.

"Only that there seem to be telepathic dead zones."

Their gazes shift toward Jean and Rachel out of curiosity.

Rachel blinked. She clearly hasn't been paying attention after Nathan left but she caught up fairly quickly. "Don't look at me," she says, somewhat defensive. "People need their privacy. Sometimes telepaths can't help but read thoughts. If you ask me, that's a good thing."

Truthfully, Rachel wasn't as good at blocking out other's thoughts as Jean was simply due to Jean's experience and work with Charles Xavier. This didn't stop Jean from catching stray musings either, so she was rather indifferent to the topic.

Once Nathan returned with a bowl of chips, Bobby's cheery disposition had returned and he was smiling once more.

"Okay, but real talk, now that we're a country and all, does that make Professor X our king?" The Iceman asked.

"He isn't our sole leader." Scott points out, being one of the Great Leaders himself. "Besides, he's on the Quiet Council."

"That would make Krakoa an oligarchy, being ruled by the few." Hank chimes in.

Bobby mulls over this information as Warren gives in his two cents.

"But he and good ole Magneto were the ones who started all this." he says. "What does that make them?"

"Founding Fathers?" Jean questions.

Bobby smacked his teeth. "Man, how long have we been here? I'm already confused now. I think we need a history book, not that I'll ever read it… but still."

Hank seemed delighted to step up to the plate. "I'll do it. We need to record our culture for future generations anyway. Why not start now?"

Warren scoffed lightly, "We just need a history book for the X-Men in general."

"Word."

Nathan furrowed his brows as he listened to the adults. He caught onto something strange.

"Wait… if we're going through all this now, how come I've never learned of this in the future?" The boy questioned, rapidly becoming filled with existential dread.

He was met with silence and questioning stares.

"Nathan," Rachel finally says, "have you been drinking beer? Are you drunk?"

"What? No! Listen to me— if I had nothing to do with Krakoa, _I_ didn't change time. Krakoa as a country never existed where I'm from." Nathan states carefully.

"Well you said it yourself, time is changing. Perhaps your very presence has altered it." Hank replied critically. He would know too. _Goddamned time displaced First Class. _

Nathan grit his teeth with annoyance, very close to giving up on the subject altogether. _"But,"_ he reinstates, "if I'm not changing time, then maybe someone else _is. _Think about it."

"Krakoa never happened in the future where I'm from either, or maybe time altered to accommodate for it and all of it's history has been wiped." Rachel debunks carefully. Thinking about the timeline hurt all of their brains and it was indeed time to stop.

"Either way, sounds like something bad will happen to Krakoa." Warren says, taking a swig of his drink. He hadn't been thinking when he said that, but once out of his mouth it felt all too real.

Hank deflects the statement. "Krakoa is meant to withstand. That is why we have our laws in safety protocols in place."

"Yeah, but ever heard of the Titanic?" Warren inquired.

Everyone was getting all hot and bothered for their liking and for a distraction, Jean proposed that Nathan get back up there on his soapbox and tell another story banking that he'll have another voice crack to ease up the tension with some laughter. It might have been a devious thing for a mother to do, but Jean read the room.

After all they've been through, they needed this break. The X-Men have been through a stupid amount of melodrama and they didn't need to dwell on it right now.

They were having a second house party after all, you don't get to have the First Class all in one room often.

Even if they've changed for better or for worse, they let the pain inducing subject go and continued to exchange light banter in spite of themselves.

They really needed to do this again sometime.


	24. For the Longest Time

**Direct lyrics included, I don't own the song used here.**

* * *

"Why is it so dark in here Rachel?" Nathan asked his sister as she lit up several rose scented candles around the dining room table. It was neatly decorated with chic tablecloths Rachel fished from storage.

"For ambiance." Rachel replied briskly. She shoved a basket of rose petals into Nathan's chest, indicating that he should scatter them.

Slowly, Nathan had begun to do so albeit a bit questioningly. "What exactly are we doing?"

"For mom and dad's anniversary." Rachel answered.

"Ohhh." Nathan's face lit up in understanding. "Which is it, mom or dad's death anniversary?"

Okay, so maybe he didn't understand.

Rachel turned to look at her younger brother with an annoyed expression. "Their _anniversary_ anniversary stupid. You know, the day they got married?"

Nathan put his free hand up in self defense. "Well _sorry. _I didn't know."

"Well it seems like something you should know!" Rachel whispered hissed. "Now hurry up! They'll be back soon!"

Much more quickly now, Nathan tossed rose petals haphazardly before being dragged away by his sister as their parents entered through the teleportal.

They had just returned from a day of missions, practically being apart for the duration of the day. They were both in costume and were just looking forward to a much deserved shower and some snuggling, but it seems they would have other plants for the night.

Jean's eyes widened as she took in the romantic scene. Paired with the starry view of space, it was really something to take in. She let go of Scott's arm she had been holding and lightly stepped over toward the table, following the delicate petals.

A dainty smile splayed on her face before she turned and asked. "Scott, did you…"

Before Scott could even answer, Rachel's telepathic voice invaded his head.

_"YES! Say yes! It was you!"_

Scott refrained from looking confused in front of Jean and proceeded to reply to his daughter.

_"Rachel? Did you do this?"_

_"... You're welcome."_

It didn't sit right with Scott to lie to his wife, but what harm could it do? It was practically a harmless lie, and compared to what they planned to do, this was definitely better.

He hadn't forgotten that it was their anniversary but he simply didn't have the time to plan anything and neither did she. They were far too busy, and the only times they really saw each other was at home.

"Scott?" Jean questioned, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh uh, yes." Scott replied, offering up a smile. "Do you like it?" He soon joined her in taking a seat, Jean immediately taking one of his hands in both of hers.

"Oh Scott, you could have done anything for me and I would have liked it." she said. Her green eyes studied Scott's visor hidden face and trailed down to their hands.

Then a bad feeling clouded over Scott's heart. "I'm not so sure Jean," he said. "I'm far from perfect. You know that."

"Nobody's perfect Scott. Even me." Jean pointed out lightly. She didn't pick up her gaze from their hands but she really meant it.

Scott then frowned and Jean didn't even need to look at him to know that he was and she sighed. "What's the matter Scott?" she asked genuinely as she traced her thumb over his knuckles. "It seems that no matter what, you're always going to have an inferiority complex when it comes to these things."

"I do _not _have an inferiority complex!" Scott protested, begging a raised brow from Jean as she tilted her head up.

"Okay so maybe I do." Scott mumbled in admittance. "But not without good reason. I've been a terrible husband in the past and a pretty bad dad if you ask me. Right now I'm trying so hard to keep this family together."

"Those things are in the past." Jean reassured. "It never meant that I stopped loving you, and the kids, they love you too."

"Sometimes it feels like they don't."

For Rachel and Nathan who were listening, it took a lot to try not to interject at this point but their parents needed this.

"And what?" Jean inquired, "Does it feel like I don't love you sometimes?"

_Uh-oh. _

Scott vigorously shook his head. "Of course not! Having you love me has been one of the best things in my life, even when I've lost you, you were all that I could think about. Even when I was with someone else… I could never let go of you."

Jean gently took Scott's hand and moved it to her cheek, allowing for him to caress it. She relished in his touch, even if his hand was gloved.

"That's good to know." she says. "I married you."

Scott inwardly sighed. "When you were gone… I would look at Madelyne and see only you… I would look at Rachel and well, it was like _whiplash."_

Jean laughed a bit before becoming serious. "I know you aren't perfect Scott, but that's what makes us, _us. _Scott and Jean. Cyclops and Marvel Girl."

"Phoenix."

"Me and you." Jean said. "And nothing, not even death could change that. You know this."

The conversation was needlessly heavy, and Rachel and Nathan worked to alleviate some of that weight. They fumbled around with one of their phones and a Bluetooth speaker so that they could play some music.

_"Get ready dad."_ Rachel said telepathically as she pressed play on the anniversary playlist she had made.

For a moment Scott looked confused before _For the Longest Time _by Billy Joel began playing on the speaker. He then looked toward Jean with a crooked smile and she stole the words right out of his mouth.

"Care to dance?"

Together they stood up and made their way toward the open area of the dining room, still holding hands as they engaged in a light sway.

_"If you said goodbye to me tonight_

_There would still be music left to write_

_What else could I do_

_I'm so inspired by you_

_That hasn't happened for the longest time"_

There was a smile that never left Jean's face as she watched Scott try to dance. He wasn't that bad, but it definitely wasn't his strong suit. Maybe back when they were teenagers he was a better dancer but time wasn't exactly kind to them.

Scott didn't really mind either since this was his wife after all. He must've done everything that could be considered embarrassing in front of her ever since they met. And that's _really _saying something.

_"Once I thought my innocence was gone_

_Now I know that happiness goes on_

_That's where you found me_

_When you put your arms around me_

_I haven't been there for the longest time"_

"We didn't get to finish talking," Jean said, looking into Scott's visor. Behind it, Scott's eyes were also trained on her, seeing them in tints of red.

"What more is there to say?" Scott asked.

"Why are you so afraid?" Jean pressed.

Scott inhaled sharply, quite taken aback. He fell silent for a moment.

"What is it Scott?" Jean asked, her precious brows now knit with worry.

Scott pressed his lips into a thin line before replying. "I'm afraid to lose you all."

_"I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall_

_And the greatest miracle of all_

_Is how I need you_

_And how you needed me too_

_That hasn't happened for the longest time"_

"You're not going to lose us Scott." Jean assured him. "We're not going to die— especially now, and we're definitely not going to leave you."

Scott softly shook his head anyway. "It doesn't matter, I don't want to lose you and have us be on bad terms. Face it Jean, I fucked up _real _bad in the past."

Jean's heart sank to hear him say those words. There was a truth to them though, he has messed up, but who hasn't at this point? To all those people that somehow gives him slack for it, they would have to go through Jean first because she's made just as many mistakes.

_"Maybe this won't last very long_

_But you feel so right_

_And I could be wrong_

_Maybe I've been hoping too hard_

_But I've gone this far_

_And it's more than I hoped for"_

Jean looked past all of Scott's flaws and hoped that he could only look past her own. Like she had said before, their flaws had made them who they are and working through them only brought them closer.

Once upon a time, Scott had been too scared to get particularly close to anybody in fear that his optic blasts may harm them. How simple that seems in retrospect, but it was a definite obstacle that Jean had to get through to get Scott to open up to her.

She's loved him through that and more, and a little more than a decade later, they're still together.

_"Who knows how much further we'll go on_

_Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone_

_I'll take my chances_

_I forgot how nice romance is_

_I haven't been there for the longest time"_

While they were both alive there simply had to be a Scott and Jean together much to everyone else who may have opposed this dismays.

Yeah, whenever Jean came back she made him crazy. But that was just Scott, he was crazy about her. He fell for the pretty redheaded girl and never stopped falling.

Even right now, having Jean in his arms, Scott felt familiar butterflies in his stomach as if they were teenagers again. How the moment they're sharing right now simply felt like a dream then.

_"I had second thoughts at the start_

_I said to myself_

_Hold on to your heart_

_Now I know the woman that you are_

_You're wonderful so far_

_And it's more than I hoped for"_

"It doesn't matter to me Scott. The mistakes you've made? None of them do." Jean states. "As long as you love me, that's all I need."

Jean rested her head on Scott's shoulder and felt his heart steadily beat in his chest. Assuredly, it would beat much faster now. She felt his voice vibrate as he spoke.

"I do love you Jean." he says. "I've never stopped. You were my first and only true love. To me, you are perfect."

Jean then took a moment to lift her head off of him and look him in the eyes once more.

_"I don't care what consequence it brings_

_I have been a fool for lesser things_

_I want you so bad_

_I think you ought to know that_

_I intend to hold you for the longest time"_

"To me, _you _are perfect." Jean echoed, soliciting a genuine smile from her husband. "Always have been."

To mark the end of the song they share a long and passionate kiss that even Rachel and Nathan shielded their eyes from. Either way, it was a mission accomplished for them until it wasn't.

"Don't think I don't know that you two are hiding there." Jean said when she finally pulled away from Scott. She looked over his shoulder toward where Rachel and Nathan were ducked behind a while. Slowly they come out and put their hands up in self defense.

"We were just uh, coming to get a midnight snack." Rachel excused pitifully as her brother nodded in agreement.

"I know you two did this."

The two kids and Scott look at her in surprise. "You did?"

Jean nodded. "Well for one, Scott hasn't done something like this for _years—"_

Scott practically flinched at that.

"And for two, I could sense your minds nearby. Also Nathan is carrying a speaker."

"Oh."

Jean shook her head with a smile. "Best anniversary ever. Come here you two." She opened an arm for a group embrace as all was forgiven.


	25. Pet

For a while now Nathan had asked his dad to get him a pet, and for a while now, Scott's answer had always been the same.

"No."

Nathan threw his head back with a groan. "Why not?

"Because," Scott said. "A pet is a lot of work, and to be frank, Krakoa doesn't exactly have veterinarians. We'd have to go out of the country."

"We have portals to go wherever we want to!" Nathan exclaimed. "We live on the moon! We have to leave for things anyway!"

"Says the one who's too lazy to get up and pick up his socks from the floor." Scott recorded, arms crossed.

Nathan snorted indignantly. "If I had a dog, I'd train him to pick up my socks."

"The answer is still no Nathan."

Nathan sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Fine." he said and proceeded to do what any kid or teen in his situation would do.

He asked his mom.

"I think that's a lovely idea Nathan, I'll see what we can do." came Jean's reply.

Nathan had caught her cooking in the kitchen, a time of day that Sort wasn't allowed near her due to her… _tendencies. _If Scott even dared to offer his help in her kitchen he would receive a crack from her wooden spoon.

Nevertheless, it was the perfect time of day for Nathan.

Nathan pumped his fist into the air, "Sweet!"

Jean smiled as she stirred. "I think a dog would be a great addition to the family. Maybe I'll go with you to different pounds tomorrow."

"What's this I hear about a dog?"

At the sound of his voice, Nathan nearly leapt out of his shoes. "What the hell?"

Scott had a way of appearing at inconvenient times for his son. It was unnerving. Especially when he was obscured by shadow. Even if the lighting in the house was fairly bright, there seemed to be an overcast hiding Scott's features until he stepped forward.

"I already told Nathan we're not getting a pet." Scott says. He had his arms folded behind his back in an imposing way. Like a war general about to bite your head off for not standing straight.

Jean had raised a brow. "Oh really?"

She looked at Nathan.

"I had to get mom's input." he excused.

His parents simply stare him down in response.

Nathan shrank into himself, averting his gaze downward. He racked his mind with things to say before changing the subject. "Hey dad, aren't you not allowed in the kitchen?"

"Don't pin this on me."

"Alright that's enough." Jean sighed. "Scott, get the boy a pet." she said, and before Scott could utter his protest, she continued. "No buts. Get him a pet Scott, he really wants one. I'm not asking."

Scott closed his mouth with a slight grimace. "Fine."

And that was the end of that. The next day Scott popped into a pet store and returned home with the family's new addition. Funnily enough, with the glasses he was widely recognized as Cyclops in the States and with the new reputation for mutants, the shop owner let him have anything he wanted for free. So long as he leaves as soon as possible.

Nice guy.

Of course, Scott paid anyway by leaving the money on the counter and departing. Upon returning home, he felt good about himself.

"Dad, what the hell is that?" Nathan had asked when he saw his dad enter.

"It's your pet that your mom made me get for you." Scott replied.

"It's a goldfish."

"Isn't it? Look—" Scott placed the fish bowl onto the counter and pointed into it. "It even has one eye. You could name it after me."

"Dad that's lame."

"What, the fish or naming it Cyclops?" Scott asked.

Nathan scoffed and rolled his eyes with contempt. "Both." he said.

"I think that this is a win." Scott remarked with a smile. "You get to have a pet, I get peace of mind, and Fishclops here takes up less space than a dog does. You don't even have to walk him."

"I am not calling that thing Fishclops."

"But he looks like a Fishclops, doesn't he?"

Scott bent over to peer into the fish bowl and watched Fishclops swim around in circles. The decorations and gravel inside were all sorts of clashing on the account of everything looking red to him. Something that could probably be easily fixed by Jean later but Nathan was keen on not keeping Fishclops.

"He looks like he's going to die in a week is what." Nathan says.

Scott lightly chuckled. "Oh son, if you're careful, Fishclops could last for a long time."

Nathan curled his hands into fist and tossed them into the air. "I'm not calling it Fishclops!" he shouted, prompting for his mother to drop in and see what's going on.

"Oh what a lovely little fish." she remarked. "Is this Nathan's pet?"

"I wanted a dog!"

Jean's expression softened. "He wanted a dog Scott."

"And for what? We go on missions and leave the dog here? That thing is going to end up being taken care of by Gabriel." Scott said.

Jean turned to her son. "That's true. It's okay Nathan, I think you'll like having a fish. Oh imagine if we had an indoor pond full of fish!" She clasped her hands together. "Be a good boy and take care of Fishclops, mommy wants to renovate her indoor garden."

On that note she left, leaving Scott and Nathan alone once more.

"Well you heard what she said." Scott handed the fish bowl to his son. "Take good care of him."

_"Fine." _Nathan grumbled and took the stupid fish to his room. He put it on top of his nightstand and stared at it angrily.

"Stupid fish." he hissed. "You could have been a dog. But my dad's cheap. Must've inherited it off of grandad."

That could have been true since on Nathan's birthday, Corsair had gifted the boy a signed and framed picture of himself. The picture itself now stood next to the fish bowl with its image refracted by the water.

Fishclops just swam idly, its single eye seemingly mocking Nate.

"Don't look at me like that." Nathan retorted. "You're just a stupid fish."

Fishclops turned away.

"Whatever."

Nathan grumpily sprinkled fish food into the bowl and watched as Fishclops sucked the little flakes in. The boy's sour expression quickly went from rigid to soft as he sighed.

"Maybe dad's right." he admitted to himself. "At least with a fish, he isn't that needy. That way I could still train."

Fishclops seemed to look at him reassuringly. It was probably in Nathan's imagination but he suddenly hated the fish a little less.

_What a dork. _He thought.

"Welcome to the family Fishclops, I guess that's your name now."


	26. Redd

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Another request by medred! I also forgot to credit them in Chapter 24, titled "For the Longest Time," my bad. Anyway, without further ado, here's "Redd":**

* * *

Jean spent this time to herself to stargaze and think about her life up to this point. She won't lie to herself, it was pretty rough. But if she never joined the X-Men in the first place, who knows. It could have been far worse.

First off, she probably would have never met Scott. She remembered that day fondly… the cute boy pushing Professor Xavier's wheelchair into her home, asking her to join his school. She remembered hardly paying attention and finding herself lost in Scott's visage. Maybe that was why she really decided to join, but it was certainly a perk.

Even if being with Scott had its ups and downs. He was always the right one for her.

Come to think of it, one of her more fonder memories with Scott had to be when they got sucked into the future on the night of their honeymoon. To anyone else, to any other _superhero _for that reason, that would seem daunting and generally disappointing. But because they were needed in the future, they got the chance to raise Nathan from a baby.

And because being with Scott had its ups and down, Jean never got the chance to do that before. Even now, she's never looked after a baby like she did then. Jean loved every moment of it, more so that Scott was there every step of the way.

Back then they decided to lie to Nathan and say that they were his adopted parents and remained under the guise of Redd and Slym Dayspring. Looking back on that, the names were fairly on the nose but nobody knew of Cyclops and Phoenix like that in the future.

Jean softly giggled at the memory of picking their names.

_"Slim but with a 'Y'? Scott are you really that uncreative?"_

_"Yeah but Red with an extra 'D' is highly innovative."_

By then it was already decided and as Nathan grew up, he was accustomed to calling them by those names. Even if they were supposed to be his adopted parents. It stung somewhat, especially when they were having a deep moment. They didn't want to lie to him, but they did what they could. They even took up calling each other by those names so that they won't slip up. It was rough at first, but they got used to it.

Jean would never forget how Nathan would get frustrated with his powers and with trying to conceal his true self. Let alone the constant pain he was in due to the virus. In those trying times, Jean would sit with him and get him to calm down as the little boy would look at her with teary eyes.

_"Redd," _he would say. _"I can't do this anymore."_

And everytime he said that she wished she could tell him about the man he was going to be.

And maybe she wished he would call her mother too. Even adult Cable resorted to calling Scott and Jean by their real names but he was quicker with calling Scott "dad" every now and again. Jean tried to not let it get to her as Madelyne, her clone was Nathan's true mother. Even if their DNA matched, Madelyne was the one who gave birth to him. Not Jean. But in every other sense, Jean _was _Nathan's mother and that's all that mattered.

As a matter of fact, it wasn't until recently that Nathan started using mom and dad more frequently. Especially "mom."

After he came to this timeline and killed off older Cable, one of the first things he had done was revive Scott from the dead. Then Jean encountered him with what was left of the X-Men. She didn't recognize him at first but being a telepath, she was sure that she recognized those brainwaves.

Then as Xavier likes to put it, "the world fell asleep."

During this time, Scott had gathered his family to Krakoa and made plans for where they were going to live. It was awkward at first with all of them there and _alive. _But Jean was more than happy to have a family, especially since her human one was practically eradicated.

Quickly Rachel fell in nicely. She was already used to calling Scott dad and sometimes Alex as her uncle. And now that Jean was back, she grew accustomed to calling Jean mom.

Nathan on the other hand felt awkward. Once again, he was out of time and it was like the family had to meet him all over again. He mostly stayed by Scott's side and addressed Jean as Redd.

Even as he said it, it felt odd in his mouth. His ears would be tinted with pink when Rachel would turn around and say "mom." His heart fluttered when Jean called him son. But he didn't know what to do at that point. No matter what, he felt strange.

Then on the night they all moved into the Summer Home, it happened in a passing conversation. They were all gathered around eating dinner cooked by Jean and Gabriel and he said it.

"Tastes great mom, I have forgotten how much I missed your cooking. Even if it isn't from a mutated animal."

It was a light and joking comment but Jean froze when she heard it, not going unnoticed by Nathan.

"You okay…?" he asked as he took a long pause. You wanted to say _"You okay, mom?"_ but that might've been pushing it. The comment just slipped out of his mouth without thought but he felt a yearning to say it more. It felt nice and homey, and more than anything, he wanted a mom. Just as he wanted his dad.

And you can't have Scott without Jean. (And if you do, you may as well count on having a blind man.)

Jean had blinked at Nathan's response and came to her senses. "Mom?" she had questioned.

Nathan's face flushed as he looked down at his plate, suddenly more interested in the overly welldone steak Gabriel had cooked for him. "Well, yeah." he said. "Aren't you my mom? We're a family now, aren't we?"

That made Jean smile. "I am. We are." she answered. "I'm just used to you calling me Redd."

Nathan shrugged and replied with, "Well the world changed when you fell asleep."

And with what they say, "the more things change, the more things stay the same."

Jean saw the little boy who struggled with his abilities once so long ago and remembered how close they had been.

And in all those years that had passed, their closeness has never changed.


	27. A Date with the Mistress

Alex gathered his family members for an important meeting, or at least for something important to him. He had them spill out over the couch and seats from the dining room and stood there with a complacent expression on his face. His lips were pressed in a thin line as his forefingers and thumbs were also pressed in a body language that read _"So listen up y'all."_

He had stood like this for several minutes before he inhaled sharply and finally addressed the topic.

"Okay, so I know that this is hard for all of you, but for once in your lives… Can you act normal? Just for me? One night, that's all it takes."

"What's in it for us?" Nathan questioned from his lounging position. His feet were kicked up on Rachel's lap much to her dismay but she didn't do anything about it.

"What's in it for you?" echoed Alex. "You _don't _get an energy blast to the face if that's what you're wondering."

Jean stood up abruptly, ready to defend her son from such threats but Scott pulled her back down into the seat before accusingly standing up himself. "Do you want to have a problem Alex? I don't care if my powers don't work on you, I'll gladly use my fists."

Never missing the opportunity to egg on a fight, Nathan began cheering on his father. "Alright dad! You show Uncle Alex what for!" The boy pumped a fist in the air with his rallying cry, prompting for Scott to shake his head out of the disillusion.

"What? No—" Scott grabbed his nose bridge. "I'm not supposed to be teaching you this. Violence is not always the answer."

"Tell that to the monkey wrench bruise." Alex grumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck. Rachel even giggled a bit at this, earning herself a glare from her uncle. "Look guys," Alex continued. "Lorna is coming over and I need everything to be nice for her."

"Lorna?" Gabriel pipes in out of curiosity. "I thought the fair Mistress of Magnetism hated you now."

Alex reached out his hand as if he planned on choking Gabriel but decided against it and instead acted like he was force choking him instead. In turn Gabriel regarded him with an innocent look that made Alex's hand tremble with anger.

"It's just _complicated _okay? If everything goes well tonight, we could by the least, be friends again."

Gabriel slacks his jaw. He remembered that when he was Emperor of the Shi'ar Empire, Alex and Lorna had plotted to kill him. How ironic that now Alex was practically begging him to behave so he might have a shot at dating her. This was definitely a favor Gabriel could exploit later.

"Alright brother," Gabriel said. "We'll do as you say but I think you're in no shape to bring someone over."

He was speaking for everyone else regardless if they wanted to play into Alex's plans or not. But most importantly he was speaking for everyone when he says that Alex has been being more of a jackass as of late. Of course, not in those exact words because then the jackass in Alex would begin to show.

Ever since the can of worms that was Red Onslaught— Red Skull with the brain of Professor X— Alex had been in a constant shift of a pissy mood with violent tendencies. His personality was flipped to all his bad qualities and hasn't been healed since Red Onslaught was defeated. No one was quite sure of why or they simply didn't care enough to delve into it. Even Alex felt this evil inside of him and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

Frankly he really needed some help and he knew just how.

"Ah, Rachel! How's my favorite niece?" he asked. "Listen, you put some mental dampeners on me so I don't go all… _y'know."_

Rachel glanced at her mother and then back. "Why can't my mom do it? She's way better at using her powers than I am."

Alex gave her a confident dip of his head. "I need you to do it because I need Jean to prevent Scott, Gabriel, and Nathan from saying anything stupid. Got it?"

The three in question brandished offended looks, wide eyed with their mouths agape before Jean used her telekinesis to close them.

"You can count on me." says Jean with a bit of a smile. "I think it's very cute that you're trying to reconnect with Lorna. When did you say she was coming over?" she asked.

"Today."

_"Today?"_

Jean stood abruptly once more, about to strangle Alex but Scott held her back again. With a hand on her midsection, he eased her back down. "Couldn't have given us a heads up Alex?" asks Scott, his brow surely arched from behind his visor.

Alex glanced at the clock that hung over the kitchen island counter. "This is your heads up." he said. "Be ready in three."

"Three? Three what?"

"Minutes."

Scott grit his teeth. _"Alex!"_

The family scrambled to get ready and straightened themselves up to sit properly as the gate opened. Lorna stepped through in her usual green garb that denoted her as Polaris, the Mistress of Magnetism.

Alex hurries to greet her with a warm smile and extends out his hand for her to grab. "Hey, Lorna! You made it!"

"Didn't think I'd bail did you?" Lorna questioned with her brows raised. "That's your sort of thing, not mine. Remember?" She ignored his hand and walked past him to take in the view from outside. Choosing to ignore the comment she just made, Alex followed behind her.

"Takes your breath away doesn't it? Well welcome to the Summer Home." he said. Alex made an awkward gesture to the window before glancing back at his family for some help.

_"Give her the tour." _Jean offered telepathically.

_"Offer her a drink instead!" _Rachel piped in.

Alex screwed his eyes shut and shook them out of his head. "Why don't we head to the kitchen, get you something to drink and I'll give you the tour?" he offered as the alternative.

Lorna turned toward him and gave a bit of a tight smile. "Sure, I'd like that."

She grabbed onto his arm and let him lead the way, scoring one win for Havok.

Once there Alex opened the fridge and let Lorna pick out whatever she wanted.

_"Hunh," _she remarked audibly. "That's a lot of alcohol."

Suddenly Gabriel slid in and blocked her view of the fridge. "Ah yes well, those are all mine. But you could have anything else!" He smiled good-naturedly and gave her a curt nod of understanding. On the other hand, Alex clenched his jaw and glared at his brother from behind Lorna's shoulder. He looked like he was about to murder him as Rachel cued in just in time.

_"Hey! Wouldn't look so good if you knocked someone out in front of your girlfriend here." _she says telepathically.

_"She's not my girlfriend, and hasn't been for a long time."_ Alex replied sternly.

_"So you mean to tell me this isn't about you and her getting back together?"_

As soon as Alex thought of a reply he was immediately hit with a strong pain in his brain. He inwardly grimaced and refrained from saying "ow" out loud.

_"What was that?" _he asked accusingly.

_"That was a mental slap. You're welcome."_

During Alex and Rachel's mental exchange, Jean and pulled Gabriel away from the kitchen and poured Lorna a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade instead.

"Made with lemons from my garden." Jean had said with a smile before departing.

Lorna raised both of her brows as she looked at Alex. "Indoor garden? You must have it really hooked up around here."

Alex smiled halfheartedly. "Uh yeah, Jean wanted it so… Scott made sure she got it."

"They're a good couple."

Alex's heart sunk. "Yeah."

The two walk away for Alex's tour of the house when Nathan loudly whispers to the rest of his family.

"Wow, he's totally blowing it, isn't he?"

"Yup." Scott agreed.

Jean swats the back of her husband's head, doing the same for her son. "Have some faith in Alex! He's doing his best." she whisper-hissed. "I think he's a better person when she's around."

Scott rubbed his head in shame. "Yeah… but I feel this is exactly why she never wants to come over when I invite her. She knew he'd be like… _this."_

They watched as Alex and Lorna disappeared from sight as he showed her where all the bedrooms were located, leading her down to Jean's garden.

Lorna brushed her hand against blossoming flowers as she walked past them, Alex in tow. She avoided looking at him under the artificial lighting until they made it to the end of the row of flower beds. She lifted her gaze up just enough to glance at him before looking away at the window.

"Who knew Jean had such a green thumb huh?" Lorna asked awkwardly.

Alex chuckles lightly, rubbing his neck with his hand. "Well I guess when you settle down in a house with your loved ones, you start picking up other hobbies that don't include fighting."

Lorna's lips twitched into a bit of a smile before she frowned ever so slightly. "What're we doing Alex?" she asked suddenly.

"Um… currently standing in my sister-in-law's very expensive garden, having a very awkward conversation."

Lorna just gave him a look.

Alex rolled his head back. "What? You never want to come here in the first place. I know it has something to do with me because you've been avoiding me!"

Lorna's expressions turned sour, just itching to leave, but she doesn't.

Without the help of Rachel like he had asked, Alex cooled down himself and took a deep breath. "Right right, time and all that. I'm sorry. I hope I didn't mess things up again."

Lorna softly shook her head, causing her green teresses to shake with her. "Why are you being so weird?"

"Weird?" Alex inquires. "Weird how? Is it the anger thing because—"

"No Alex." Lorna states firmly. "I know why that is. Why do you seem so distant? I mean, you love your family. Why does it seem like they're gawking at me? What did you tell them?"

"I uh, told them to act normal."

For a moment she was silent, causing Alex some panic. Then she broke into a grin and laughed loudly.

_"Normal? _Oh Alex, you're a Summers. There is no such thing as normal!" she leaned an arm on his shoulder, lightly pushing him back. "I should be offended, I've known you guys since forever! And look at me! I'm Magneto's _daughter, _there's no normalcy in that!"

Slowly Alex began to join in on her laughter as he felt more at ease. "Yeah… I don't know what I was thinking. Since it's been so long, I just wanted to make a good impression of where I am in my life right now."

"I don't know," Lorna began. "I've heard that you almost killed a man and landed yourself on the Hellions. That's an impression enough for me."

Alex felt his cheeks burn.

"But that's okay. I hear you're making an effort to be better. So c'mon—" Lorna brought her lips to his burning cheek and placed a kiss there. "Let's go back to your wonderful family and let's pretend I'm in it, okay?"


	28. Danger Living Room

**Another request by medred.**

* * *

"Scott, do you want to tell me why a laser popped out between the tiles and incinerated my favorite chair?"

Jean stood with her arms crossed over what was left of her chair as Scott stood idly by the kitchen island with his morning coffee.

"Oh, that'll just be the Danger Room functions kicking in." Scott replied between sips.

Jean inhaled sharply as she tried to keep her strong emotions on the inside. "Honey… you turned my living room into a _Danger Room?"_

Scott stifles a smile from behind his mug. "Actually, I repurposed the entire house into a Danger Room scenario if need be."

For a brief moment, the words didn't register in Jean's mind as she furrowed her brows together. "What? Do you… do you want to run that by me again?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

"The whole house is a Danger Room."

Jean didn't get a chance to reply as one of the doors from the hall opened and out came Rachel, clad in only a towel around her torso. Her hair was also wet and stuck to her face and neck.

"Can someone explain why the showerhead just tried to attack me?" The young woman asked with a very perplexed expression. There were fresh blemish marks around her arms, indicating that the showerhead might have constricted her like some sort of snake.

"Yes Scott." Jean turned toward her husband, wearing a look of passive aggressiveness. "Please do explain."

Scott inwardly sighed. "Well I really missed the Danger Room from the Institute, and since that place is completely gone, I brought Forge in here to do me a favor and hook the place up. It's no Danger Grotto but—"

Rachel cut him off, sweeping some wet hair behind her ear. "Hold on, _Danger Grotto?"_

"Ask Banshee or Emma, I don't care."

There was a shout coming from Nathan's room as the boy opened and quickly closed the door, pressing the weight of his body against it. "The bed just tried to eat me." he said, all out of breath. Nathan was frantic for a moment before tossing a glance at his sister with confusion and slight disgust. "You uh… you going to put on some clothes?"

Rachel opened her mouth for a scathing reply, when her father supplied in. "Actually, everyone go put your costumes on! Meet back in the living room, we've got some work to do."

In a matter of ten minutes, the inhabitants of the Summer Home banded together in a straight line, save for Scott who paced before them with his arms folded behind his back. "Alright," he starts in the commanding voice he's developed over the years of leading the X-Men. "We are a family unit, and therefore, we must fight like one. I know you're all upset with me for weaponizing our home, but think of the possibilities! We'll be so tight knit, our family will be considered a small army!"

Scott stopped toward the end of the line with a screeching halt. "Jean, Gabriel. You two are Omega Level mutants. You are our heavy hitters on our team."

He then turned and stopped on the opposite side of the line. "Rachel, Nathan. You are the glue that binds us together, and Alex—"

Alex looked hopeful and anticipated his role from his brother's inspirational speech. But judging from Scott's brief silence, Alex's hopeful exterior faltered. "Alex," Scott started again. "You will be by my side! Alright? Any questions?"

Gabriel raised his hand as if they were in class but Scott simply ignored him.

"Great! I can already feel us bonding as a team!"

And bond they did not, the whole operation was a disaster. Everyone kept getting in everyone else's way, relegating some to the devices of the Danger Living Room. For instance, at one point Rachel's ankle was ensnared by a wire from the floor and she was dragged across the room. Gabriel, who was closest to her, did nothing to assist. Instead he made use of the small fire that was quickly forming because Nathan's gun had blasted a piece of flammable furniture. Due to Gabe's pension for fire, he played with it, burning everything else that was near it, leaving poor Rachel to save herself.

On the other hand, Scott, Jean, and Alex worked well together due to their many years on the same team. But it was hard to commit to greatness when Nathan would cut in and do his own thing.

Scott did his best to command his family, but everytime he opened his mouth to correct one person, someone else did something wrong. He quickly became weary and his throat quickly ran dry.

At the end of the session, Scott's disappointment wafted off of him, clear by his slack jaw and slight trembling fist.

"What was that?" Scott demanded. "We're _X-Men. _We're better than that."

"We each have different fighting styles Scott." Jean replied lightly. Scott was unlikely to snap at her, but he needed to calm down.

"Yeah," Rachel adds in agreement. "Have you considered that all of us together have ever been a team at the same time?"

"I…" Scott hung his head. "That is true."

He sighed and began to address the issues he had.

"Nathan, I know you haven't been with us for very long— at least this version of you anyway, and I know you're used to leading on your own. But you can't do whatever you want to do. And Gabe, I know that for a short almost nonexistent time, you also let your own X-Men. You also led the Shi'ar Empire, and just like Nathan, you're doing anything you want."

"Not to mention being distracted by the fire." Rachel mumbles, crossing her arms.

Gabriel knits his brows downward in a set expression. "The fire," he says. "It calls me."

"Honesty Gabriel, I would love to know what's wrong with you as much as the next person but you can't keep doing that." Scott remarked.

Gabriel stayed silent in response, because Scott was right. He didn't even need to say it either because as everyone knows what the T-shirt says.

Scott continues to address certain things but he does keep in mind that this was one of the first times they've ever worked together as a group in a controlled environment.

"Any questions?" Scott finally asked.

"Mm, yes." Jean raised her hand. "When will you be replacing all of my furniture?"

Scott sweat dropped and changed the subject. "Um… any other questions? Actually, who's up for another round hm?"

He was met with resounding _"ughs" _and _"noooo's" _as his family slouched and physically deflated.

"Okay…" Scott rubbed his nose bridge. "Same time tomorrow?" he asked alternatively, but they had already scattered and they were gone.


	29. Summertime

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** **Yeah I know it's been a hot minute since I last updated (at the time, if you're from the future, hello and sorry for the confusion.) I'm reaching that point of no inspiration but luckily due to the sickening state of comics specifically Marvel with X-Men because this what we're all here for, my infuriation has been reinvigorated. **

**I'm looking at you Wolverine and Jean. Sorry to anyone who pairs them. Not in my house. Anyway speaking of my house, back to Summer Home. (Please please please bear with me and keep giving suggestions, I don't want this fic to die out.)**

* * *

Nathan Summers laid flat on his stomach watching Fishclops swim around idly from his bed. The boredom has long set in and he was only awake for about an hour and a half. He would've gone down to Krakoa himself to hang out with Pixie or Armor, or even engage in battle at the Quarry but his father told him to wait. Scott was in one of his scarily good moods again, and Nathan did well to just listen to him for once.

Rachel was also forced to wait in her room when Scott called the two of them out for another big reveal. Hopefully it wasn't another cactus or Danger Living Room session, but it seems Uncle Alex and Gabriel were left out.

"I wonder what crazy scheme dad has got planned this time." Rachel mused as she stepped out into the hallway. Shortly Nathan stepped out after her, rubbing at his eyes. "If it's anything like his non-revolution, I doubt it's going to be that crazy." he deadpanned in reply.

"You two are always doing this to me. You don't think I can be fun and crazy?"

Scott pulled out some luggage from his room into the hallway, wearing some getup that was definitely not his costume. Of course, his signature ruby quartz glasses still sat comfortably on his face.

"You know what's not fun but crazy" Rachel questioned with both of her brows raised. She didn't wait for a reply and simply answered herself. "Whatever the hell you're wearing."

"Oh this?" Scott tugged on his baby blue polo. "It's camping gear."

Rachel's eyes bulged out as she gave a very concerned expression. "Oh God, why are the socks so high up?" she asked but her question was drowned out with Nathan's own query.

"We're going camping?"

"We sure are!" came Jean's reply as she walks out in a similar getup, pulling along some bags.

Rachel nearly face palmed. "Not you too."

Instead, Nathan's eyes lit up, and in the car of one of them— literally. "Aw sweet! Are we going camping on Monster Island?"

Scott chuckled in response, throwing his head back. "Haha! _No…"_

"Crap—"

"I already told you that I don't like you going there," said Scott firmly. "But to answer your question, we're just going to camp on Krakoa."

"Oh sure, that's safe." Rachel remarked with a roll of her eyes. "Count me in for a night under the stars… not like we already do that every day we live here."

Scott walked over and placed a gentle hand on Rachel's shoulder. "C'mon sweetheart, you're going to enjoy this. Grandad used to take me and Alex camping all the time."

Rachel sighs, very close to giving into mandatory family binding time. She physically deflates and places her hands on her hips. "Yeah? And why isn't grandpa here?"

For a moment Scott looked lost, and one didn't need to see his eyes to know they were now looking off elsewhere. "Good question…" he replied before shaking himself out of it. "Never mind that, you kids are going to love this!"

Rachel's 'tude aside, Nathan was taking the news very well and was actually excited for camping. He said something about "getting the bear traps" as he ran back into his room, causing for some concern from his parents.

"Did he just—" Scott queried.

"Indeed he did." Jean supplied.

Everything else aside, Scott and Jean packed up everything they were going to need, including the children's clothes. How they managed to do this without Rachel or Nathan knowing is anyone's guess. The boy even brought Fishclops with him in his little bowl because he knew very well that Alex and Gabriel were _not _going to feed him. And well, maybe Nathan was getting attached to the little fish.

The goal was to last a few days without having to go back home for anything. Although, it was rather tempting to, since home was only a hop and a skip into a portal away. They also tried to stay out of the way of obligations such as missions or Council meetings.

Surely as family men, Xavier and Magneto would understand.

_Surely. _

Once on their camping grounds the family set up, pitching tents and gathering tinder for a fire. It was quite easy with the aid of superpowers (thank you Jean and Rachel) and it was done quite fast.

Without question, Nathan wandered off to set up the bear traps around their campsite. Where exactly was anyone's knowledge.

"Where did you get these from?" Scott asked his son as he received wood from Jean.

"Don't worry about it." Nathan assured cooly. He bore a grin on his face but it wasn't exactly catching on.

Scott knit his brows in a set expression, truly wondering if this was how he raised his boy. "And what if someone wanders onto one?"

"Then you guys aren't my family if you can't tell where I put the traps."

"I—"

Jean grabbed Scott's arm and softly shook her head, forcing him to drop the subject. She would go ahead and read Nathan's mind to remove the bear traps anyway, but for now she's going to let him have his fun and think he's going to get away with it.

With that issue out the way, it was time to start the fire and make dinner. Jean was the one who was going to handle everything, but Scott insisted that the kids roast their own weenies as a right of passage.

It was probably a good idea until Nathan started laughing uncontrollably, chuckling _"Hobo dinner!" _as he did so. Even Rachel was laughing too as the joke became infectious between them. Nevertheless, it was a warm sight to see, and not because of the fire.

Rachel's hotdog totally didn't get entirely engulfed in flame, that's nonsense. If anyone were to ever talk about it in the future, she would certainly erase it from their minds.

It was a good thing Uncle Gabriel wasn't there, he would've had a field day.

So, as the sky began to dim and the stars shone from a different perspective, the family settled onto the ground for some stargazing. Scott and Jean laid next to each other, hand in hand, as Rachel laid on Scott's left side and Nathan on Jean's left.

Nathan has his arm around Fishclops' bowl just as Scott had his other arm around Rachel's shoulders.

"Nothing like summertime activities with the Summers, right team?" Scott had asked into the open air.

It was cooling down for nighttime and Krakoa had provided insect eating plants to ease up on the mosquitoes and such. It was nice.

Rachel stifled a scoff. "Oh God, Dad."

"What?"

Rachel then turns her head so she could look at her father. Green eyes on ruby quartz glasses.

"Don't ever change."

Scott gave a slight chuckle. "I don't plan on it sweetheart. At least not again that was bad."

"Yes it was." Rachel echoed.

Jean sought the opportunity to change the subject by remarking upon the stars. She lifted her free hand up to point at them, almost reaching longingly. "Even though these are the same stars we see from home, seeing them from Earth again always feels differently, in a good way of course."

"It's humbling." Scott says.

"And to think we'd be tired of seein' stars." Nathan joked, adding his two cents.

Rachel responds in a quip. "And surprisingly, I'm not tired of seeing your face." She leaned up a bit to glance at her brother on her far side.

Nathan couldn't help but laugh since he knew that Rachel meant no harm by the comment. "Ouch." he says. "Was that supposed to hurt my feelings?"

Jean butted in, telling the kids to play nice, even though this was pretty much as nice as they get. It was all in good fun as the family settled into laughter before falling into comfortable silence.

"So dad," Rachel began after a while. "Was this as good as grandpa's camping trips?"

Scott pretended to consider the question, twisting his lip in thought. "Mm, no." he said. "It's better."


	30. The Nates

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Back at it again with an A/N at the beginning of the chapter. This time I'm just letting you know that I'm going to take creative liberties with Nate Grey/X-Man since we haven't seen him yet (if ever, at the time of writing this.) There's nothing I'm doing that's too out there, so just read. :) (Also wow, it's chapter 30 I'm so proud of myself.)**

* * *

Nights have been getting restless for Nathan Summers. Everytime he tries to fall asleep, he hears a voice in his head, echoey and far away. There, but not quite. He asked his mom for some help, but even the mental blocks she placed on him had been broken.

He considered asking her to wake up and place the barriers again, but waking up your own parents had that gnawing anxiety that came with it. You're not sure why it scares you, but it does. So Nathan just decided against it and tried to sleep the best he could.

One of these nights he woke up for some warm milk to calm his nerves. He shuffled, dragging his feet toward the kitchen as the echoey voice pounded in his head. It seemed to be mocking him based on the tone of voice, or maybe Nathan has put up with it long enough that he was completely annoyed.

He was just about to get to the refrigerator when he realized that someone else was in the kitchen.

"Uncle Gabe?"

"Huh-?"

Gabriel bumps his head in surprise while inside the fridge. He fumbled with the beer bottles. "Oh," he says, "I thought everyone was asleep."

Nathan rolled his eye and rubbed the back of his neck. "Gee, so did I." he remarked sarcastically.

The awkward exchange continued on as Gabriel offered to fix Nathan the warm milk for him. He almost burned it of course, how exactly can be only answered by the omega level mutant himself. So as Nathan drank his piping hot milk in sips, his uncle tried making conversation while he drank beer. The situation was uncomfortable, not helped by the voice that continued to pester Nathan.

Since then Nathan avoided going toward the kitchen during nighttime. But his problem still persisted. Once he had asked Rachel to stay up and keep his brain protected rather than ask his mother to do it. After lots of pestering, Rachel had agreed and set up a chair next to Nathan's bedside.

Though, it wasn't very long until Rachel became exhausted and fell asleep. Once she did so the voice came back and Nathan was sleepier than ever.

Finally on this night, the pestering had reached its highest point until something strange happened.

For what was probably the hundredth time Nathan squeezed his eyes shut that night, he was transported into his mind's eye. At first Nathan thought he was dreaming, and that he managed to fall asleep for once but he couldn't have been more wrong.

His mindscape was rather blank, which could reflect on his own capabilities of thought. Before him was naught but only one person.

_"J-jesus?" _Nathan squinted his eyes because the bare white walls of his brain were rather bright and obscured his vision of the person.

"No dumbass," not-Jesus replied. "I'm you from an alternate future."

Nathan gave a bewildered expression. _"I'm _Jesus?"

"For Chrissakes, _no."_ The figure steps forward, further revealing himself as the Jesus lookalike save for a white streak in his hair and chiseled abs. He had a tattoo of the X-Men insignia over one of his pectorals because he chose to be bare-chested, which Nathan could promptly see before him.

"It's me," The figure says. "Nate."

"Nate?" Nathan echoed with a raised brow. "As in… _Nate Grey? _My—"

"Brother?" Nate supplies. "Yes. You've heard of me."

"I mean, how could I not. We had to make that mess of a family tree and we put you on it."

"Yeah it's pretty messed up." Nate agreed. "Just look at you, I thought you were supposed to be old."

Nathan crossed his arms indignantly.

"Sorry."

"Yeah sorry—" Nathan threw his hands in the air with contempt. "You mean to tell me that you've been terrorizing me for a week now, and it has boiled down to this? And why the hell do you look like Jesus?"

Nate softly shook his head, causing his long hair to spill all over his face. Besides the _holier than thou _getup, he looked just like an older Cable. Eye sparkler and all. "It's a long story," he replies. "About everything you just asked actually. Look, it's taken me forever to connect to this reality through you so let's ask questions later."

"What are you doing here?" Nathan queried even though Nate just told him not to.

Nate sighs at his younger brother's naivety. "I just want my family back, I messed up badly."

"Welcome to the club, you really are a Summers." Nathan goaded.

"Not funny," Nate deadpans in response with half-lidded eyes.

"You're right," Nathan paused before quickly adding, "It's hilarious."

Nate didn't respond so Nathan felt compelled to ask a different question. "So what do you want me to do about it? You're in my head and I can't exactly use my telepathic powers."

"But I can, just sit tight because this is going to hurt."

_"What—"_ Nathan didn't get to finish his reply as a seething pain tore through his mind and in his body. A pain like he never felt in his life before. Nate was trying to escape out of Nathan's mind by squeezing his astral projection out of Nathan's sparkling eye. It was a rather horrific sight and when the pain subsided, Nathan sat upright, panting as if he almost drowned.

Nate's astral projection faded into a corporeal being, creating flesh, organs, hair, and other necessities. Except while he looked like Jesus in the mindscape, he looked more like himself in real life. His hair was trimmed shorter just like how Nathan has it now and the long flowing beard was gone. Replacing his robes were a leather jacket, jeans, and a belt once again bearing the familiar X that's on his chest. Of course he was still bare-chested, as if he had something against shirts.

Nate leaned against his elbows on the floor, looking up at Nathan who stayed on the bed. "Well." Nate punctuated with nothing really to say.

_"Well… _what the fuck is more like it." Nathan retorts with a shiver. He will not forget the pain anytime soon.

Nate stood up and dusted himself off, admiring his former self that he's now inhabiting. _I don't look half bad, _he thought to himself and then addressed Nathan out loud. "I did warn you."

"Yeah. You did, but you didn't give me time to prepare." Nathan replied in exasperation. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Nate looked out Nathan's bedroom window expecting to find the normal outdoors only to be greeted by dead cold space. "No idea actually."

"It's three in the morning and I'm going to bed. I haven't slept, no thanks to you, and I'm going to take advantage of this." Nathan pulled his blankets up to his chin and flopped onto his side. Within minutes he's fast asleep, leaving Nate to his own devices. He wanted to go and greet his family but something was adherently scary about waking your parents up in the middle of the night so he decided against it.

**To be continued in a part 2. **


	31. The Nates Pt 2: Prodigal Son

That morning Nathan woke up refreshed and rejuvenated as the events of last night had escaped him. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with a yawn and set about to his daily routine, until it finally hit him. He had completely forgotten about Nate and only remembered when he saw Nate curled up at the edge of his bed like a dog. Nathan yells out in alarm, causing Nate to stir from his slumber.

"Mm… Good morning." Nate greets, sitting up for a stretch.

Nathan clutched his blanket to his chest, his heart thudding. "What the— what are you doing there?"

Nate brings his arms over his head and eases the dullness out of his back muscles. He lets out a hearty groan as he gives his reply. "I figured I may as well sleep until morning, I didn't want to wake anybody. Besides, I wasn't going to lie next to you. So I took the foot of the bed."

"Yeah that's not weird at all." Nathan threw the blanket back into Nate's face and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Nate scoffs in response to the attack but says nothing of it.

"Look," Nathan pressed his palms together and addressed Nate calmly. "Everyone should be awake right now so why don't we go and surprise them huh?

"I like the way you think brother."

Nate used his powers to levitate himself and Nathan off the bed and cleaned it up nicely to make it look like no one was sleeping there at all. Usually, Nathan never made his bed and left it. Sometimes his mother came in and fixed it for him. But watching as Nate did so with ease or without complaint irked him. He didn't know why though, and decided to let it go.

Together the nearly identical boys exit the room with Nate taking the back as he floated. The floating was another thing that bothered Nathan. From time to time, Rachel and his mother would do the same but it felt like Nate was just showing off at this point.

They had made it to the kitchen without anyone noticing them arrive unsurprisingly. Mornings were either hectic or extremely quiet depending on the day. Today was a little bit of both as people came in and out of rooms.

Their mother, Jean Grey waltzes out into the living space, fastening her mask on the correct way. "Honey," she says, referring to Scott. She thought he must've been out here but he wasn't. "Can you get me my tea? I'm about to head out."

"Allow me mother."

Nate levitates the cup of tea and pours it into a thermos for Jean to take with her. He moves it toward her hand while her back is turned and she grabs it graciously. "Thank you Nathan." said Jean before she realized that there wasn't a hand attached to the drink. She whipped around in fright and widened her eyes.

_"N-nate?"_

Nate grinned cheekily in response. "Hello Jean."

Jean brought her hands up to her mouth as she was hit with a wave of emotions, effectively letting go of the thermos. Nate had caught it and brought it to her once again with telekinesis.

"Scott honey, get in here!"

Scott pokes out of the hallway that led to some of the bedrooms, followed by Rachel who heard the yelling. The two of them were in the middle of brushing their teeth and either held the toothbrush in their hand or clamped onto it with their teeth. Upon laying eyes on the lost Nate Grey, their faces contort is happiness and surprise.

Rachel launches herself in flight and tackle-hugged Nate in a vice grip. She was particularly glad to see him since they had so much in common, being from alternate dystopian futures.

This made Nathan realize how alienated he really was. If he was old man Cable, he would know a lot more about Nate. Consequently, he only knows of what he has learned from others. Scott, Jean, and Rachel all knew Nate fairly well and thus had a reason for being attached to this man.

Several times in his life now, Nathan had looked at someone who was essentially the same as him; older Cable… Stryfe. But looking at Nate, the resemblance was uncanny. Nate had to be just as old as Rachel and yet he shared every vital feature that Nathan had. He was just taller and slightly more mature looking.

It was jarring to watch Nate get hugged by his family, listening to the sweet nothings that were shared.

Suddenly the rest of the day was forgotten as the family decided to spend it with Nate.

_Woopee. _

"Where the heck have you been?" Rachel asked Nate as she forcefully sat him down at the kitchen island.

Nate rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, not keen on giving details. "Oh y'know… places."

"How did you get back?" Scott chimes in. Nathan opened his mouth to answer since it had something to do with him. "Actually—" he started but he was never given the opportunity to answer. His family flocked around Nate, bombarding him with question after question, inadvertently shutting Nathan out.

Having had enough, Nathan turned on his heel and left them. Even if he was able to, he decided that he wanted no part in this.

Nate's grinning face started to ache as his smile muscles were being tugged on for so long. He was happy of course, but when he wanted to address Nathan's absence he wasn't given the opportunity to falter.

"Excuse me Scott," he says, starting to stand up. Nate gingerly pressed a palm to his father's chest, gently pushing him away. "I'll explain how I managed to get back but I think it'll be better if Nathan was here to share his side too."

For a moment Scott looked puzzled. "Nathan—? Oh," he glanced to his sides. "He was here just a minute ago."

"He left." Nate states.

"Why would he…" Jean drifts off, leaving her sentence unfinished. "Oh dear. You don't think he feels like he's getting replaced?"

Rachel scoffed and shook her head, hiding her sarcastic smile. "As if, that boy replaced our Cable, so what does it matter?"

Her mother shot her a glare and Rachel quickly reiterated herself. "What I mean is…" Rachel drawls, "He's not going to care. It's another Tuesday for him."

Jean knit her brows together in concern. "You think so?"

"Nathan's not soft like that mom, he probably just got bored and left."

"You know, what does Nathan have to do with you coming back?" Scott asked, turning towards where Nate once stood. The older boy had disappeared as well. "Uh, Nate?"

The address fell on deaf ears as Nate searched the home for his brother. He floated in the air, moving at a slow pace in case he missed him. "Where the hell are ya Nathan…?" Nate asked himself aloud. He came to a full stop before realizing he could just reach out to Nathan telepathically.

Face palming himself, Nate sent his mind out towards Nathan's. He could hear Nathan's thoughts clearly as he left them unguarded.

_"Thinks he's all that." _said Nathan's inner voice. _"Just because he's allowed to use all of his powers doesn't make him better than me. If I weren't sick, I could be just as strong as him."_

Nate stroked at his chin. So maybe Jean was right. Nathan did feel he was being replaced to an extent. Or maybe he was just jealous. Time to find out.

Nate flew toward the sound of Nathan's thoughts and found him sharpening away at his sword in a sparsely decorated room. Like everyone else, Nate found this amusing since old man Cable usually brandished guns and only guns. He let the sound of his feet touching the ground alert his presence.

"Aren't you supposed to be with mom and dad?" Nathan queries with his back turned. He didn't acknowledge Nate save for the question.

"Yeah, and so're you." Nate swaggered toward Nathan's side and plopped down next to him. "Whatcha got there?"

"A sword."

The lack of enthusiasm in the rather lacking reply left Nate feeling sour but he didn't let it change his disposition. "Wow, and here I was thinking it was a toaster pastry."

This time Nathan stopped what he was doing and turned to look at him. "What do you want?"

"I want _you—" _Nate poked Nathan's shoulder with his index finger. "To explain how I came back to your mom and dad."

"Don't you mean _our_ mom and dad?"

"That's what I said wasn't it?"

Nathan inwardly sighed and sagged his shoulders. "We're not doing the whole, I'm you, you're me thing are we?"

"Right, we're brothers. We could be twins if you weren't painfully short." Nate teased, eliciting a scoff from Nathan. "I am not short." The boy murmured.

"Shorter than me." Nate reinforced with a playful shove.

Nathan's ears burned pink. "Shut up."

"Oh!" Nate retracted his hands in mock horror. "I'm so scared!"

Nathan rolled his eye and turned his attention back to his sword. "Living with you is going to be a trip isn't it?"


	32. X-Ladies Night Out

**Another request from medred. **

**Note:** **I will be using characters who are caught up in their own business in X-related titles so ignore the continuity there because I may or may not have been keeping up with Excalibur in specific. Oop. A̶l̶s̶o̶ I̶ r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶ t̶o̶ c̶a̶l̶l̶ K̶i̶t̶t̶y̶, K̶a̶t̶e̶.**

* * *

Scott watched his wife apply makeup in front of the mirror as he leaned on the doorframe. "Who're you getting all dolled up for?" he asks with a raised brow. He had hoped it had been for him of course, but it was a fleeting notion.

"Me." Jean replies shortly. "I'm going out."

"Out?" Scott echoed, slightly crestfallen. "You're leaving me with the kids?"

Jean nods and caps her mascara. "They're practically grown, you'll be fine." She got up to go gather her things, passing Scott on the way out. "Except Rachel is coming with me."

"You're leaving me with _Nathan?"_

"And Nate." Jean added.

"The _Nathans?" _Scott shook his head in disbelief, turning to face Jean again. "How long will you be out?"

Rather than answer his question, Jean called out for Rachel to finish up because it was about time they left. Rachel steps out of her room, the soft clicking of heels denoting her arrival. Once she faces her mother her lips twitch into a frown.

"Crap."

Jean looks down at her outfit and then looks to Rachel. "Well, I certainly didn't expect this." The two of them were wearing identical red singlet dresses with matching red heels.

"I think it's cute." Scott remarks with a bit of a smile.

Rachel groaned and rolled her eyes. "No dad, it's not. I can't go out like this, this is embarrassing." She turned to go and change but her efforts were in vain. The portal to their home opens up, revealing the woman Storm as its guest. Ororo, as her friends call her, came to make sure that Jean and Rachel were ready to go.

Ororo began to address them in greeting, her words slowing and coming together as she saw the mother and daughter combo. "How… quaint." she decides on saying. She smiled but her eyes glimmered in question.

Rachel sighs in response and throws her head back to look at the ceiling. _"Don't _say anything. Let's just go."

Ororo nodded her head once in understanding. "Very well then, we'll be on our way. The others are waiting for us."

Scott waved his friend and his two girls off and wished them a great time. If only he could wish the same for himself. He watched the three leave for Krakoa before inwardly sighing as he heard glass shatter from inside one of the boy's rooms.

The three women are met with their other friends and teammates from over the years, gathered around some seating with drinks and some food to eat. The night planned wasn't too special, but it was probably best to stay in rather than have a large group of mutants be spotted out in any other country. Instantly, humans would think they came for a fight and it was honestly a confrontation they hoped to avoid. Besides, Krakoa provided beautiful scenery, and Jubilee and Kitty who had come to this spot earlier hooked it up.

Together the two ladies had brought tables and seats, and decorated the trees with twinkling lights and ever the mature, Kitty had added a sign that read _"No X-Men!"_

"Kitten," Ororo had said when she saw the sign. "Aren't we X-Men?"

Kitty nods. "Yes, _buuut_ technically we're X-Women and this is a girl's night out so—" Kitty stopped when she saw Ororo's eyebrows slowly raise. "Never mind."

"I like it." Rachel chimes in, siding with her long time friend.

Kitty threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "See! Someone gets it."

Ororo softly shook her head and assumed that Kitty had started drinking already. She did a lot of that recently. Leaving the two young women (besides Jubilee), Ororo took Jean's arm and led her to the others. The group consisted of Lorna Dane, Rogue, Betsy Braddock, Kwannon—funnily enough, and Emma Frost. They were all about to sit down as they said their hellos.

Jean was kind to return their greetings and when it came down to Emma, she stayed silent. Jean considered being nice but Emma already made a snide comment about how she and her daughter were wearing matching outfits. She was about to go on about how she left the Five-in-One home, Ororo felt Jean's discomfort and found a seat for the two of them a good distance away from the White Queen.

Jean found herself sitting next to Rouge on her other side.

"Heya Jeannie," Rogue greeted, turning to face her. "How's th' family?"

"Oh you know those Summers boys…" Jean softly shook her head with a smile. "I love 'em. How about you and Remy? Thinking of starting your own?"

Rogue coughs, hiding her response with a sip of her drink. "Not really… No."

Jean put a reassuring hand on Rogue's covered shoulder. "Hey, my kids are time travelers so you never know."

Rogue laughed slightly "Pfft, I'm good sugah, believe me."

"How is your home?" Ororo asked Jean next. "It looks quite beautiful. Mustn't be easy to maintain it's quality."

"Ah well it helps to have telekinesis." Jean replied with a certain light laughter in her tone. "And that Rachel has it too. Thank God she's more responsible than the boys."

Ororo nods in understanding, glancing at where Rachel sat near Kitty, conversing about their time in Excalibur together. "I've heard that your other son has returned as well. How are you taking it?"

Jean sharply inhaled and took a swig from a nondescript alcoholic beverage. She was going to need it. "I love him, don't get me wrong, and it's nice to see him when he's not trying to destroy us all… but goodness, the combination of him and his younger brother have turned out to be quite the lethal duo."

"Oh?" Ororo tilts her head questioningly. "By lethal you mean…"

"It's been a while since the house has truly been silent." Jean supplies.

"Ah. Well anyone would love to be in your place. You are lucky to have your family."

Jean smiled. "I know. It's good to see that we're not the only weird ones either." She made a point in observing Best and Kwannon where they sat. Once the two women have been… one woman, for the most part, and it was odd to encounter each other normally. For a long time Betsy got used to looking at Kwannon's face— and body, _Angel can attest to that—_ as her own. But more than anything, Betsy was glad to have her own identity back. But for being forced to share a brain, the women quickly figured out that there really wasn't much to discuss between them. At least anything they'd _want _to discuss.

Moments like this made Jean appreciate her family more, all things considering.

Ororo briefly observed the two purple haired women as well. "I agree," she says. "Though we all have our own unique strangeness. We are all mutants and X-Men after all."

Jean accidentally snorts in laughter. "You can say that again sister. But you, 'Ro, you're probably the most normal of us all."

"Oh, I don't know about that…" Ororo admits.

"Nothing could top Jubilee becoming a vampire."

Ororo opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She was probably right. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

Kitty came around refilling everyone's drinks. "Uh-oh everybody, look out! Here comes that drank!" Rachel trailed behind her, levitating the necessities. It was obvious that Kitty already had too much of "that drank." Rachel had made a comment about how well Kitty and her Uncle Gabriel would get along in their newfound alcoholism. The brunette attempted to be offended but didn't quite have a response at the ready so she just let it go.

"Kitty, it hasn't even been that long. Have you started drinking before the party began?" Rachel asks, steering clear of Kitty's swaying feet.

_"Maybeee."_

Rachel gave a sigh at her friend's antics. "Man, Logan really has rubbed off on you hasn't he."

_"Psh," _Kitty flapped a hand in dismissal. "No… no, _no."_

"Right…" For a brief moment, Rachel pondered what could have spurred Kitty ti get this way. The girl truly has changed a lot in many ways. But this seems rather odd. It just could have been Rachel's own opinion, because after seeing Uncle Gabriel drink himself into a stupor, Rachel has been turned off from it. Not only that, her parents were constantly around and it felt odd. Even watching Kitty pour her mother another drink felt odd. It only reminded Rachel of how close they were in age in actuality.

Once she and Kitty got to her, Ororo decided to ask Rachel about her outfit. "Did you plan on matching with your mother?" She was clearly amused.

"Huh?" Rachel briefly looked down. "Oh uh, definitely not. No offence mom."

"Should I have taken offense?" Jean questioned.

"That's what no offense means doesn't it?"

"I think the matching dresses demonstrate how much you look like your mother Rachel." Ororo cuts in kindly. She puts a soft hand on top of Rachel's. All things considered Ororo could very well be Rachel's Auntie.

"I think that was what I was trying to avoid." Rachel admits shamefully. "Again, no offense mom."

Jean just gave a confused look as she didn't know how to react.

"You do not need to be ashamed of your beauty Rachel."

Rachel's face flushed. "Oh uh, I don't know if that's what I was going for… "

"Yeah girl!" Kitty practically shakes Rachel. "You're beautiful! We're _all _beautiful! _Whooo!"_

"Kitten I believe you've had enough to drink." Ororo puts kindly.

Kitty points an accusing finger at the woman. "I'll tell you when I had enough!"

"Okay you…" Rachel brought Kitty around and forced her to take a seat. "How about you sit next to my mom and Storm, okay?"

Kitty just erupts into a fit of giggles, eliciting a sigh from Rachel. "At a time like this, I wonder what the boys're doing at home…"


	33. Catching (Hot) Cold

Once more, Gabriel Summers woke up this morning feeling terrible. Not because he was hungover, as a matter of fact, he kept his drinking to a minimum last night. He even woke up in his bed for once. No, this terrible feeling was something else entirely. He was sick.

It was Alex who found him like this, eyes reddened, breathing from his mouth. Alex went to take his temperature by laying a hand on his brother's forehead, only to recoil in pain. "Ah, _ow..."_ Alex waved his hand frantically to wave off the pain. Gabriel's forehead had been so hot, his hand felt like it got burned.

_"Urgh, _what is it?" Gabriel questions, lolling his head to look at Alex. It wasn't such a good idea since pain instantly followed. He obviously had a fever but something strange was going on.

"Hold on," Alex said, putting his hands up, "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back."

"Not like I have a choice." Gabriel replies but Alex had already scurried off. He went to fetch a thermometer and brought it back for Gabe. "Here," he says, holding it up to Gabriel's mouth. Taking the cue, Gabriel held it under his tongue.

Alex peers down at the temperature mark, but something was wrong. There were no numbers showing. It was completely blank. Curiously, Alex took the thermometer out and nearly dropped it out of shock. The part that was in Gabriel's mouth had melted into a shapeless figure.

Alex raises his brow and scratches at his head. "What in the hell…"

"What's happening?" Gabriel croaked.

"Hell if I know." Alex remarks as he throws the broken thermometer away. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I'm dying."

Alex took a step back. "But you aren't… aren't you?"

Gabriel snorted indignantly only to go into a fit of coughing. _"No…"_ he said between coughs. "Can you… can you get me a glass of water?"

"Uh, sure thing. Don't die I guess." Alex backed out of the room, only to back into their older brother Scott.

"What's going on?" Scott asks as he adjusts his glasses. Alex turned around to face him and gave a defeated shrug. "See for yourself." The blonde quickly left as soon as he said it, to get Gabriel the water he requested.

When Alex came back, Scott was inspecting the thermometer in the trash can. "Maybe his powers are acting up because he's sick." Scott proposed, addressing Alex as he heard him come in.

"Maybe," Alex echoed. He handed Gabriel the glass of water and much to both of their astonishment, the water evaporated at the mere touch of Gabriel's fingertips.

"I asked for water, not water vapor." Gabe quips without a hint of a joke in his tone. It was hard to speak but even at this point he was getting annoyed. "Pray tell, I'll ask again. What is happening to me?"

"Don't know." Scott reached over to feel Gabriel's forehead but Alex gently pushed his hand away.

"Prolly don't want to do that." Alex informs him.

Scott nods and kneels beside Gabriel. "Seems like you got a cold."

"More like a hot." Alex jokes. He looked at the cup Gabriel had touched briefly. There were small indentations into it where the glass had melted. Alex gives a slow whistle in slight adoration. "It is pretty cool though."

"No it's not." Gabriel retorts saltily. He leaned his head back into his pillow and stared at the ceiling. "The fire… it's too much."

"Well look at it this way," Alex says, putting his hands up in self defense. "It could be worse."

Gabriel considered the statement only to have the bed crack beneath him. It split down the middle horizontally, leaving Gabriel in an uncomfortable position, and to make matters worse, it burst into flame.

"You're right." Gabe chimes helplessly. "This… this is fine." The flames licked at his flesh but it didn't char his skin. Gabriel was impervious to the heat, nor did it pain him. Instead he felt very cold.

Scott and Alex stood back from the fire, careful not to get themselves burned.

"Well…" Scott punctuates, but he had nothing really to say. He dropped his hands to his side wordlessly, trying to process what's happening.

"I'll um, see if we got a fire extinguisher." Alex said as he ducked out of the room once more.

For now, Scott had asked Jean to levitate Gabriel into a bath of cold water until they could figure out what medicine he would need from Krakoa. For that they had sent the kids so they wouldn't crowd around the tub.

Instantaneously the water evaporated just as the glass of water had earlier.

"Oh someone just end my suffering." Gabriel groaned. His tone was nasally as it was hard to breathe out of a clogged nose.

"Don't worry," Jean coos. "Rachel and the boys will be back with some medicine." She crouched beside him, providing endless wet rags for his head as each one dried out.

"And this way, if the tub is set on fire, we could turn on the shower." Scott adds.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Oh g… oh, _gre—"_ His nose twitched as he felt a sneeze coming on.

Jean provided a tissue for him, granted that it might combust on contact. "Here, blow into this." she told him.

Gabriel obliged, sneezing right into the tissue. The house supports began to shake in response, every object that stood up in the bathroom began to fall onto the floor.

"On second thought," Jean remarks as she clutched tightly onto her husband, "Try to hold it in."

Gabriel simply sighed and prayed to whatever god that would listen for death. He'd come back anyway.

"Right, I'll try not to breathe." he said with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.


	34. Cable's SPICE Girls

Nate Grey knocked on his brother's door repeatedly to no avail. On the other side there was loud music playing coupled with off-key singing. Nathan's never been much of a singer, and he lacked the natural talent. A trait he inherited from his father that neither can live down whenever the conversation comes up.

Giving up, Nate just forces the door over with telekinesis and helps himself inside. "Goddammit Nathan, what're you doing?" Nate had asked aloud but Nathan couldn't hear him. He actually hadn't noticed his older brother enter. The boy was prancing around, using a handheld gun as his make believe microphone.

_"Each night I aaa-sk the st-aars up above… why must I be a teen-aager in lo—" _Nathan cut himself short once he spun around and saw Nate standing in the doorway. "Dude," Nathan started, giving a bewildered expression. "Doesn't anybody knock in this house?"

Nate crosses his arms. "I did… I was worried about you. I thought I heard screaming."

Nathan promptly turns off the music. "No…" he says. "That was me… singing."

"You can't sing."

Nathan rolled his eyes and put the gun away. "I know."

"So," Nate flew over and planted himself onto Nathan's bed. "Who's the lucky girl?" he asked. _Or unlucky for that matter, _he said to himself.

"What?" Nathan's face flushed. "Girl? Who did anything about a girl?"

"You're listening to corny love songs from the fifties, there's got to be a girl." Nate presses. He leans back on his elbows, waiting for Nathan's reply.

"There is no girl." Nathan bites back.

"Or—"

"There are _girls."_

Nate knit his brows together in a frown. "The hell did you just say to me right now?"

"The Stepford Cuckoos." Nathan specifies, as if it makes a difference.

"Emma's _girls?"_ Nate looked sick and briefly panicked. He was going to call out for mom when Nathan stopped him.

"Wait, I know that this sounds bad… but hear me out…" Nathan opens his mouth to explain himself but he didn't have anything valid to say. Unfortunately, Nate caught wind of his thoughts.

"Because they're hot." Nate supplies.

"Yes."

Curse the teenage libido.

"Why them?" Nate asked. "Why all of them?"

Nathan dodges the question and goes about feeding Fishclops. "I don't tell you how to live your life," he defends. "If I did, I'd tell you to put on a shirt."

Slightly offended Nate tugs on his jacket to cover a bit of his bare chest. _"That's different._ When did this even happen anyway?"

"Well wouldn't you like to know?" Nathan retorts. Not once has he looked at his brother to give a response.

"Uh, yeah," Nate rolled his non-sparkling eye. "That's why I asked." He then proceeded to spit some knowledge. One could tell because he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "Look, I get that having five girls is like a wet dream, but you're playing yourself if you say you love all of them. Possibly, even playing them."

"They're a hive mind," Nathan points out. "They're practically the same person."

Even Nate had to flinch at that. "Ouch…. Do you even know them by name?"

Nathan looked hurt and finally turned to meet his brother's gaze. "Sure I do!"

Nate raised his eyebrows, prompting for Nathan to follow through.

"There's… Sophie— the one that Quire used to like, Phoebe, Irma… who likes to be called Mindee… Celeste, and…" Nathan sighed blissfully. _"Esme."_

"Yo…"

Nathan begins to set his brow in a worried expression.

"I just realized… Their names spell SPICE. They're the Spice Girls." Nate said, causing Nathan to almost facepalm.

"Alright, alright," Nate clucked his tongue. "Do you know which one is which?"

"... Yes."

"That's awfully reassuring."

Nathan threw his hands up in defeat, turning on his heel. "They're quintuplets! They dress the same! What do you want me to do about it?"

"Don't know." Nate shrugged in response. "Save one for me."

Nathan blinks, taken aback. "Um… _ew."_

"You're ew."

"How old are you?"

"Old enough to kick your ass and not feel bad about it." Nate retorts. He flew up from the bed and made his way back to the door.

"What does that even mean?" asked a confused Nathan, trailing Nate with his eyes.

Nate softly shook his head, letting his empty threat drop. "Seriously though, tell Esme how you feel. Seems to me that you really just like her."

Nathan began to nod in understanding. "Wait— have you ever even had a girlfriend before?"

"Sorry bro," Nate winks. "Coach doesn't play the game." He briefly disappeared behind the door frame before poking his head out again. "Also don't tell Jean just yet because she'll _freak_ once she hears you like one of Emma's kids."

Nate disappeared once more, leaving Nathan with his thoughts.

He was right. How _was _he gonna tell mom?


	35. Suicide is (Not) Badass

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The following story is very disconnected from Dawn of X and any of its supporting storylines. This is just me writing a quick story that would raise questions about the system of Krakoa and I wanted to tell it through Cable because he is a teenager, (it may or may not be in character for him idk.) Just don't want any confusion for those of you keeping/catching up. xx**

* * *

Charles Xavier took Cyclops aside after one of his meetings with the Quiet Council. His face was set in a grim expression, despite having most of it obscured by the new Cerebro. This quickly catches Scott's attention as he quietly asks what's wrong. He was aware that no one else was around them so it had to be dire if they were speaking privately.

"Your son," Charles starts dryly, "he has died."

Scott flinched and tilted his head in response. "Wha— how?"

"As far as I'm aware of—" and Charles was aware of a lot, "He went monster hunting, _alone. _He made a blunder and allowed a beast to catch him unawares."

"He…"

"He was mauled to death."

Scott inhales sharply and rubs at his temple with apprehension at the news. He told his son not to go out there and he was sure that he was very clear. No matter how hard Scott tried, Nathan always found a way to disobey or to disrespect him. The boy was used to taking his own orders and adjusted poorly in the family dynamic.

Charles spoke again in response to Scott's dead silence. "I have his memories backed up. The Five will be working to resurrect him as soon as they can."

Scott nods, "Yes, thank you."

Charles laid a steady hand on Scott's uneasy shoulder, as if to assure him that he's a good father and that everything will be alright. Scott himself has gone through the resurrection protocols, he had nothing to worry about.

"Tell Jean," Charles instructs him, "And I will let you know when he returns."

The process of gathering Cable's memories in the right order took a few days since Nathan Summers was a time traveler, and unlike most others who waited to be resurrected, Charles put Nathan at the top of his list. After all, through Scott, he was pretty much family. Playing favorites may show toward the other inhabitants of Krakoa, so Cable's resurrection ceremony was to be done privately. Only his parents would be allowed to be there. As far as anyone else would be concerned, Cable has not died and was probably out fixing mutant problems in man's world.

Charles also had to sort through young and old Cable's memories, to make sure that their Nathan Summers would return to them just as he was. Giving him memories from the older Cable would probably confuse him and drive him towards the brink of insanity. Charles could have gotten rid of the older (now dead) Cable's memories but they could be used to his leverage for later. Cable was a time traveler and his memories could warn Charles of what's to come. He couldn't be too sure what Moira had in mind and he planned to ultimately take her out of the picture as the one calling the shots. Although he loved her once and still regards her dearly, he thought it best.

Due to these circumstances, after an appropriate number of days, Nathan was finally brought back. His mother prepared a change of clothes and his father prepared himself with a stern look. Grounding someone for dying was sure to be a first.

Nathan Summers returned to the world, having forgotten who he was until Charles returned his memories, gently pressing a hand into his forehead. Nathan's yellow glowed with agitation as all the memories came to him at once.

"I…" Nathan croaked.

"You died." his father supplied before Charles could say anything. Scott stood a decent distance away and his harsh voice caused Nathan to shrink into himself. That and noticing he was naked, covered in a strange substance that made his hair stick to his forehead.

Nathan examined his chest and his arms, seeing that they were free of the claw marks that had ultimately killed him. "I remember now."

"You're grounded," Scott adds. "I told you to not go over to that monster infested area and you got yourself killed."

"Honey please, let him at least get his bearings. He just died, this can't be easy for him." Scott's wife kindly objects. She goes over to give Nathan his clothes and allows him a brief moment of privacy as he stands to change. "This should be punishment enough." Jean states.

Scott begrudgingly agreed. _"Fine."_

"Are you good enough to go home?" asked Charles who stood the closest to Nathan.

Nathan nods and ruffles his hair. "Yeah I think so… that was so weird."

"As resurrection will always be." Charles said rather amusedly. "You weren't gone for long, worst case scenario is that you missed some wonderful dinners that your mother makes."

Nathan nodded again, getting used to his current situation. He felt perfectly fine, and if he wasn't gone for long, everything else was going to be fine. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it my child, go on back to your parents." Charles guided him back to his mom and dad who would go on to take him home.

The rest of the day goes on normally as Nathan's family welcomes him back. He assured them that he didn't want any coddling, because enough was enough when even Rachel was offering to get him anything he wanted. So Nathan went away from her and the others to train the rust off of his combat techniques and get his body back into the swing of things. He methodically kept up to this process as his mother periodically came in to check on him.

After several hours and a much deserved shower, Nathan sat on his bed and observed Fishclops in his bowl. He briefly wondered if anyone had fed him in his absence, but it didn't matter anyway. The fish was still alive.

"Huh," Nathan tilted his head and squinted his eyes in thought. "If you died, you can't come back. We're really lucky to have that, aren't we?"

As expected, the fish didn't respond and continued to swim his meaningless circles, living out his meaningless life.

_Well, _Nathan considered, _if I can come back at any time, I can do something meaningful. It wouldn't matter if it costs me my life. _

At that moment Nathan felt invincible, and this disposition was going to inform his every decision for the following weeks to come.

Everyday since then, Nathan put his life at risk. He would get hurt but there will always be medicine for him and knowing this made him careless. He allowed for more slip ups, for more injuries, as long as he got the job done. The bigger and more dangerous the better.

His parents hadn't taken notice as Nathan asked other mutants to heal him before he even returned home. He mostly asked Hope because of their strange familial connection and her connection with the Five. Everyday Nathan came to her, she said he was being stupid, and everyday, he ignored her. It wasn't until he died once more did everything get revealed.

While defending some mutants who wanted to move to Krakoa, Nathan carelessly allowed himself to get shot at by the human police. Just one bullet, and the life recently restored to him had leaked out. It was the Marauders who found and retrieved his body, bringing this to the attention of Charles and the Summers.

Whereas Charles might've been aware of Nathan's outings, he feigned a stance of ignorance. Though, judging by the loud thought of Hope Summers, Jean was able to discern Hope's knowledge of everything.

"I couldn't stop him if I tried," Hope had told them. "He was hellbent." She obviously showed her remorse and offered to get back on the process of reviving Nathan. That's when Charles offered his counter.

"For the very reason of his suicide missions, I could refuse his resurrection a second time. We all know he did these things with intent."

"You can't do that, Xavier," Scott said angrily. "You're going to bring back my son just like you're going to bring back everyone else."

"Very well then." Charles responded, and they got started.

This time when Nathan returned, he knew what to expect and faced the scene before him with confidence. He was quickly met with a symphony of frowns, and somehow his father's frown was deeper than before. Though, it was Charles who spoke to Nathan first this time around.

"What have you done, my boy? Why have you harmed yourself in the name of justice?"

"I, uh…" Nathan hung his head, suddenly feeling ashamed as Charles' words washed over him.

"You thought it wouldn't matter." Charles supplies, reading his exact thoughts. "But it does. You're still hurting yourself, and you're getting clumsy."

"I'm sorry…" Nathan said. For once in his life he wanted to sob and shout, throwing fists into the empty air. The last time he felt this strongly was when he brought his father back himself. He heard his own words echo in his head, twisted to fit the current situation.

_It wasn't right. _

He had no right to do that to himself. To Hope. To everyone he loves. Something was truly wrong with him. Charles and the Five made amends to bring him again while someone else could be more deserving.

He heard his father begin to scold him, but the words drowned out with the sound of his mother doting over him, goading him to get his clothes on. But all he heard were the same words.

_It wasn't right. _

_It wasn't right. _

Resurrection is a privilege and he just abused it.


	36. Something Sinister

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter may or may not be in character for Nate Grey aka, X-Man. I just needed him to create an interesting situation.**

* * *

Today was a good day for the Summers family. Jean was in the kitchen whipping up some dinner while even Gabriel stayed away. The fire infatuated mutant instead played tabletop games with his older brother Alex, who was in one of his better moods. Nathan and Rachel lounged on the couch watching television. The man of the house himself, Scott Summers was in communication with his father as they solidified the next time they would be seeing each other.

All was very calm, and the only one missing from the picture was Nate Grey— and as Rachel had nicknamed him, the Prodigal son. Nate wanted to learn as much about Krakoa as he could so everyone assumed he was with Charles Xavier or even Magneto for that matter. They figured he'd be back in time for dinner is all.

But when the Krakoan gate to their home opened, it wasn't the familiar footsteps of Nate Grey the family heard. A black boot stepped onto their pure white floor, followed by another boot and a swish of a tapered black cape. With a joyous bellow, the man let himself known, as if his physical presence was enough.

"Hullo Summers family! It is I— your biggest fan! How are my most favorite people in the world?"

Instantly Scott and Alex sprung into action, raring their beams to go.

"What do you want Sinister?" asked Scott harshly. His fingers hovered right next to his visor.

Mr. Sinister, the man in question, gave a pout. "Scotty boy, where are your manners? You've changed quite a lot from the boy I met in the orphanage."

Alex took a step forward, his hands glowing in warning. "Hey paste-face, he asked you a question. What the hell are you doing in our house?"

Mr. Sinister softly clucked his tongue in response. "Oh Alex, you can't talk to me that way. I'm technically your boss."

"Yeah, well." Alex fidgeted a bit. "I'm off the clock. Now answer the question."

Mr. Sinister raised his brows inquisitively. "Weren't you told?"

This time, Scott spoke. "Told what? Where's Nate, what have you done with my son?"

Mr. Sinister gave a shrug and sidestepped so that the gate wasn't obscured. Out from behind him Nate entered the space with his brow set in determination.

Scott's expression briefly faltered at the sight of his eldest son. "Nate, move away from there, we'll handle this."

"No." Nate stated firmly.

Scott narrowed his eyes from behind his visor but not at Nate, but at Sinister. "Do you have him under some sort of control? I do care about the rules, I'll kill you, you bastard."

Much to anyone's surprise, Nate stood protectively in front of Mr. Sinister. "Scott." he said. _"Dad."_

Nate hardly ever called him dad, so it had to be important.

"Nate?" Scott queried. "What's going on, why is Sinister here?"

Nate swallowed hard. "He's here, because he belongs here, dad."

Scott waited for an explanation. Mr. Sinister was clearly enjoying this.

"Mr. Essex created me using your and Jean's DNA," Nate supplied. "Therefore, he's practically family."

The room went dead silent for a moment as the residents from the Summer Home all stared at Nate. Their gazes stung like heat vision, almost tearing him apart, judging him. Without having to know what expression Scott's eyes had, Nate already knew they were hurt. But worst of all, when he locked gazes with Jean, it pained him the most. And despite it all, her words also had to be the most startling.

"We have to honor Nate's decision."

_"What?"_ Scott spun around to face his wife. "After all Sinister has done to _me? _To _you? _What about Alex?" he cried. "Nathan?!" and falling upon deaf ears, Scott entered their psychic rapport.

_"Maddie?"_

Jean sighed and softly shook her head. "Nate is right, and if Essex is allowed on this island, trusted by Charles, then he should be allowed in our home. Krakoa means new beginnings for everyone."

_"We could also keep a closer eye on him and make sure he doesn't harm Alex because he's on the Hellions." _Jean added to Scott psychically.

Jean then turned to Mr. Sinister with a smile that wasn't quite right. "Please have a seat, dinner is almost ready."

Satisfied, Mr. Sinister didn't need to be told twice. He took a seat between Nate and Nathan. Under any other circumstance, he would've sat next to Alex and Scott but they've been played out. Of course, he still cherished them dearly as his prized boys, but he wanted to get to know what Scott's kids were up to these days. Almost like the one uncle at Thanksgiving that nobody's sure he's even related to anyone. Sinister smiled a toothy grin at Nathan, prompting for the boy to turn away and rest his head in his palm.

"You know, I too had a hand in your birth kiddo." Mr. Sinister told him.

"Yeah…" Nathan snorts, having heard this about a million times since he got to this timeline. _"I know. _I made the family tree."

"Ooh!" The caped man clapped his hands joyously. "Am I on it?"

Nathan rolled his non flashing eye, "No Mr. Sinister… you are not on it."

"Please, call me Nathaniel, or is that weird because we're all Nathaniel?" Mr. Sinister asked, looking between the boys.

"Actually, I'm just Nathan." Nathan announced unceremoniously.

"Well… close enough, right?"

Nathan knit his brows together and slowly looked at Sinister. "I get why _he's _Nathaniel—" he glanced across the man to look at his brother. "But am I called Nathan… because of you?"

Before Mr. Sinister could answer that question, he watched as Rachel Summers stomp over and slump into a seat across from them.

"My my, my dear." Sinister cooed. "You deem to have your mother's attitude."

"Shut up." Rachel told him.

"You're very special Rachel." he said, leaning forward in his chair to look at her. "You're the only one Scott and Jean had without my help."

Rachel crossed her arms and gave him a blank look. If it weren't for the pressing conversation Scott was having with Jean in the kitchen, he'd be right there, protecting his children from having to talk to this man. So instead, Uncle Gabriel took up the responsibility. Alex would have too, but he was currently taking Scott's side.

Gabriel leaned hard against the table and gave Sinister a cold look. "Refrain for the ill willed comments, will you friend?"

Mr. Sinister returned the expression with one of coyness. "Well well, if it isn't Vulcan. You're a strange one."

Gabriel refrained from faltering and looking confused. "Pray tell, how would you know that?"

"Yes well," Sinister smiled. "Isn't that the question?"

"Listen Mister," Gabriel jabbed an accusing finger at him. "I know naught of your plights, but I do know the harm you've caused my family. The DNA you've harvested from them. I may have been a ruthless bastard in the past but you sir, are disgusting."

The words passed through Sinister like rain on a duck. "Bold words for someone whose DNA I have."

This time Gabriel faltered and his pointing hand fell. "What— _when_ did _this _happen? I haven't met you formerly until just now!"

Mr. Sinister chuckled. "Oh my lad, don't worry about it. Yours is quite possibly one of the most important in this family. An Omega-Level mutant such as yourself is a valuable resource."

"Is that what we are to you?" Gabriel spat, _"Resources?"_

"Alright, that's enough." Nate stood abruptly and placed his palms on the table. "I don't expect you and Essex to get along, but we don't need to talk about this." His eyes glowed as some tabletop items began to float. "He's here, and that's final. You heard what Jean said."

"And… we're going to do exactly what she said."

The family and Sinister looked at where Scott had spoken, re-entering the dining room. Alex and Jean were in tow. "Nathaniel Essex will _never_ be a part of this family," Scott assured them, "But he has every right to be here just like anyone else."

"Yeah," Alex rolled his eyes. His good mood earlier, long evaporated. "It's not like Apocalypse is coming over for brunch, right?"

Silence ensued as Nate quietly set the items back on the table with pursed lips.

"Oh my God…" Alex groaned.

"What?" Nate asks, defending himself. "I thought that this was what Krakoa was all about? Hell, how different am I Essex or En Sabbah Nur?" He looked from Scott to Jean and back again, using their parental titles once more. "Dad, mom?"

Jean sighed lightly. "Please Nate, just sit down. We'll talk about this later." She ducked back into the kitchen so she could prepare to set the table.

"Well." Sinister punctuated. "This ought to be fun."


	37. Something Sinister Pt 2

**This is a continuation of the previous chapter.**

* * *

The table was rather quiet as they ate their food, faces either hung low or they stared directly at their dubious guest. Mr. Sinister paid no mind and resumed as usual before he picked up a conversation starter.

"Must I say Scott, the fact that you've managed to gather almost all of your family here is very impressive." he says. All the Summers in one location. It was a dream come true for the geneticist, and he wasn't even backing on Nate coming back. Sensing this, Scott explained as little as he could.

"I didn't find Nate, he found us."

Mr. Sinister looked curiously at the young man to his left. Nate paused his eating with a slight sigh. "Yeah," he seconded, "I made a link with Nathan from the Astral Plane."

"He squeezed out of my eye." Nathan added and Nate nodded. "It was kinda gross and I'm glad no one had to see that."

"I would." Rachel said. She hasn't spoken much at all that night but she really wanted to make that point known. Given the presence or Nathaniel Essex or not, sibling rivalry still persisted.

Both Nates squint their eyes at their sister. _"You_ would want to see that wouldn't you?" Nathan accused. "How would you like it if I forced something out of your eye?"

Rachel was about to give her reply when their mother interrupted with a swift mental swat to each of them. Nate, who didn't really do much, gave Jean a look of hurt and confusion. "Um, ow?"

Mr. Sinister filled the brief silence with a light chuckle. "You are all absolutely delightful and even better than I hoped you'd be." He then glanced at Scott who had been staring at him all night. "You know…" he muses, "If looks could kill…"

Scott's already present frown deepened.

"Oh wait." Sinister laughed to himself and braced against the table to prevent himself from laughing too hard. "In your case, they do."

Scott narrowed his eyes, split hairs away from taking Sinister up on the offer. He was sure that Xavier and the Five would bring him back anyway. Essex brought that side out of Scott, and even as he tried to bury his darkness beneath him, Scott couldn't shake it with this guy.

As if he knew what he was thinking, Mr. Sinister softly shook his head. "Now now, if you do that, Xavier would toss you and Alexy into where they keep Sabertooth."

Scott gripped his glass tightly in response, and Alex shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"What does he mean, dad?" Rachel queried, asking not only for herself but for her siblings. "Where _is _Sabertooth? Didn't you go retrieve him from the Fantastic Four?"

They all knew that Victor Creed was a criminal and broken the law several times, but he also broken Krakoan law. Though, there were no such prisons on the island anyone was aware of. In actuality, the mangy mutant was buried alive deep underground.

And if Scott were to try to kill Mr. Sinister, a member of the Quiet Council no less, he'd surely face the same fate. Alex in turn, who had been given a chance because of Scott (as Alex had also broken Krakoan law) would probably follow in suit.

Scott simply stayed silent and didn't answer that question. Rachel could've very well read his mind so he did his best to block the memory from her. Mr. Sinister gasped in an exaggerated fashion. "My, where are my manners? The table is no place to talk politics."

Inadvertently or on purpose, Sinister saved Scott from the conversation.

"Right…" Scott narrowed his eyes from behind his visor.

"Any who," Mr. Sinister deterred back to his original point. "What I meant to say it is very heartwarming to see you all in one place. Scott and Jean back together again— I knew that White Queen was no good for him, the all the kids, Alex, Gabriel. I've always liked you best."

He gets no reply as everyone shifts their gazes around and continue eating, save for Nate who looked at Mr. Sinister directly whenever he spoke. He brought him here and he was intent on keeping the peace.

Mr. Sinister broke the silence by continuing talking, as he did much more of these days; prattling endlessly about anything that came to mind. Perhaps it came with old age, or general solitude even. Sinister was used to being surrounded by clones of himself by now.

"Must I say Jean, this dinner is delectable." he said, flicking the steak knife between his fingers.

Without a smile, Jean simply nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you."

With a slight frown, Sinister rolled his eyes. "Great great, good talk. I get the feeling that I'm not wanted here."

"No, really?" Alex asked sarcastically. He dilated his eyes in mock shock. "You are an absolute charm to have around, please do stay for dessert."

"Don't give him any ideas, Alex." Scott warns and Me. Sinister put his hands up in self defense. "Alright," said Mr. Sinister. "I'll go right after dinner, but I must ask…" he looked at Jean once more. "What _are _you having for dessert, can I get it to go?"

"How about a knuckle sandwich?" Alex got up from his seat and practically stood on the table to deliver a swift punch square in Mr. Sinister's jaw.

"Really Alex? You did not just say that right now." came Rachel's witty remark. She rolled her eyes, concealed by her red bangs.

"Everybody just shut up a moment!" Alex shouted, even though everyone was mostly silent. He charged up an attack from his hands to blast Mr. Sinister. He was very much done with this situation regardless of what Nate wants or what Jean allows. Mr. Sinister had him on a leash and he was tired of it. His mood swing was getting the best of him and he was swinging hard and fast. But ever the more powerful, Nate sent Havok careening into the floor, causing Alex to miss fire.

Luckily, Alex's shot didn't hit anybody else as Gabriel deterred the energy and sent it to hit a flower pot instead. Not like anyone would miss it.

Rubbing at his back, Alex stood up once more and squared his stance. "What the hell, Nate?"

"You are not to hurt him." Nate states, aiming a warning hand at his uncle. "Hurting him would be breaking the law. Hurting him would make me break you." Nate slowly began clenching his hand into a fist and Alex started crumpling onto himself. Nate was breaking his spine ever so slightly before he unclenched and released his hold on him. Alex's spine remained unscathed, leaving the hotheaded mutant to heave for air on the floor.

This time Jean stepped in before Scott did. "Nate you need to stop. _Now." _she said, forcing Nate to sit with her telekinesis. She pushed the seat far back against the glass behind him. Jean was no match for Nate's power but she could hold him there long enough. "You're in timeout."

Scott went over to Mr. Sinister and grabbed him by the throat, holding him up in the air. If the geneticist wanted to, he could break free but he allowed it. "You did something to him, didn't you?" Scott accused him for the second time that night.

"Maybe I did… maybe I didn't." Mr. Sinister smirked, despite being deprived of air ever so slightly. "Have you ever considered that Nathaniel is… different again? The world changed when you fell asleep." Those last words were the words of Charles Xavier and Mr. Sinister was using them to spit back into Scott's face.

Out of disgust, Scott let go of Sinister and let him drop to the floor.

"Well, it's been real." Mr. Sinister stood up and dusted himself off. "Thanks for dinner Jeannie, see you later Summers clan." With that, he smiled and headed through the Krakoan gate in the main room.

After a stretched out moment of deafening silence, Nathan cued his question. "If Mr. Sinister can come over, can I invite Stryfe?"

And with several glares, he got a unanimous _"no."_


	38. Bodyslide to the Future

Rachel and Nathan were fighting again. This time, the scrap had been going on for so long that neither of them remembered what sparked it in the first place. All they needed to know was how to evade the other's attacks.

Nathan dashed down the hallway and dove behind the safety of the couch as Rachel flew behind him, flinging as many objects as she could at him. Luckily for Nathan, he was skilled enough to dodge most of them, especially when Rachel began picking up heavier objects. For a moment, everything was at a standstill. Rachel was early quiet as the objects stopped flying. Feeling a bit brave, Nathan peaked his head around the couch just to get a glimpse of Rachel's smirking face. Her eyes glowed magenta as she moved her hands toward the couch.

_"Crap."_

Nathan scrambled to his feet when he realized that Rachel was going to drop the couch on him. Drawing his gun, he rolled away and took a shot at his sister. Being the hood shot that he is, Rachel took it hard in the side and careened backward. The couch dropped safely back onto the floor, without crushing Nathan beneath it. Having a temper similar to her mother, Rachel screamed wordlessly as she telekinetically latched onto Nathan.

Soon, Nathan was running hopelessly in the air, panicked to find out what his sister might do to him.

"Rachel, Rachel stop! I'm sorry!" The teen exclaimed. His glowing eye spiked in both fear and anticipation.

"No you're not!" Rachel screeched. She flung Nathan high into the ceiling, causing him to bounce off and fall towards her ungracefully. Brother slammed into sister, making them both crash into the floor. Unfortunately, something in Nathan's bodyslide tech malfunctions and they're sent teleported to an unknown location.

They end up in a dense wood, near a camping ground that seems to be occupied with tents and a small fire. The siblings unfortunately get tangled up in a bush with twigs snagging at their hair and clothes. Rachel, being the first to recover, levitates herself out of the bush with disgust.

"Ugh," she snorts, "Where are we?"

The bushes rustled as Nathan tumbled out behind her. "Actually sis, it's _when _are we?"

Rachel was quick to give him a look. "You did not just— Bodysliding is only supposed to teleport you." She narrowed her eyes in accusation. "What did you do?!"

Nathan casually picked a stick from out of his hair. "So I uh, had a long chat with Forge and now the bodyslide tech can time travel." The answer only made Rachel angrier.

"You _what?"_

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Nathan remarks as he goes about fixing their situation. "Just give me a minute, I'll get us back home."

Rachel threw her hands up in defeat as she took a look upon their surroundings. She floated herself over to get a closer look at the campsite, careful to keep herself hidden. As of right now, there were two figures sitting by the fire, admiring the stars. One man and one boy. Presumably father and son. The boy's brilliant brown eyes started to get heavy lidded as he nestled against his father's side. Out of curiosity, Rachel reached into their minds to get a sense for when and where they were.

_"What a day," _came the father's thoughts. _"We should probably head in soon, little guy is already getting tired."_

Rachel then peered into the boy's mind.

_"Too bad we have to leave tomorrow… I'm having so much fun. Who knows when Alex and I are going to hang out with dad again?"_

Eyes widening in realization, Rachel turned to her brother. "Nathan…"

"Yeah Rach'," Nathan retorted with a roll of his eye, "I'm on it, just relax."

"No Nathan, wait…" Rachel went over and grabbed his arm to prevent him from doing anything else. "This is the night before the plane crash." she whisper-hissed and Nathan sweat dropped.

_"The _plane crash?" Nathan echoed, mirroring his sister's shocked expression. "As in… _one parachute left? _As in—" Rachel cut him off. _"Yes!"_ She pressed her palms against the sides of his head. "Do you know what this means?"

Nathan pursed his lips. "No…?"

"This _means _we have an opportunity to save them." Rachel supplied and Nathan set his brows with worry.

"I dunno Rachel, that seems adherently wrong. What if we erase ourselves?" Nathan asked.

Keeping her hold on Nathan's head, Rachel pulled him over to get a glance at their father and grandfather. "Look, when I sent Kitty back in time to change my future, it worked. But for me, everything stayed the same because my future became an alternate timeline. If we save them here… we can create an alternate timeline where everything goes right for dad and Uncle Alex, hell Katherine is pregnant with Uncle Gabe right now."

Nathan's eyes shone with apparent consideration, "Wow… grandad has not changed at all— _ow!"_ Rachel pulled on his ear. "Did you even listen to anything I just said?"

Nathan swatted her away and crossed his arms. "Yeah yeah, alternate timeline. What if we subjugate them to a worse timeline than ours?" he proposed. He hated being the voice of reason, especially considering time related things. It was really embarrassing trying to convince his teenage time displaced parents to go back home.

Rachel raises a brow. "Worse than everything leading up to now? Yeah, whatever, I'm going to go have a talk with them." She promptly turned on her heel before getting tackled down by her brother.

This didn't go unnoticed by the young Scott and Corsair, but they attributed it to wild animals and just went back inside their tent.

"Are you crazy?" Nathan accused. "Rule number one of time travel, you can't interact with anyone!"

Rachel threw her brother off of her back. "You know, for someone so worried about not fucking up the timeline, maybe you shouldn't have asked Forge to implement time traveling into bodysliding."

This comment only elicits a deep frown from Nathan. Funnily enough, it was very similar to a look Scott would give them.

"Alright alright," Rachel put her hands up in self defense. "You're right. Let's just go home."

Nathan then smirked as an idea dawned upon him. "You know what we _can _do?" He quickly grabbed his sister's hand so that they could be able to bodyslide together.

"What's that?" Rachel inquired, a cheeky question in her eyes.

"You'll see." Nathan said, "Bodyslide by two." Light engulfs them once more as they are sent on their way.

This time they are ported into a dark room only lit up by moonlight. The room was sparsely decorated and the moonlight illuminated a wooden desk on which a sports almanac sat. Nathan reaches out and snags the said almanac and quickly tucks it under his arm.

"Alright," Nathan said, _"Now _we can go home. Bodyslide by two."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm just going to go ahead and advertise my new story right here for all you X-Men Evolution fans. It's called "The Return of David Haller" (yes I know the title is lackluster but it gets the point across.) It's very obviously about Legion if you're**

**interested because the show got cancelled before we could ever get a follow up to his episode. I would be very grateful If you gave it a look. :)**


	39. Crushin' Krakoa

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took longer than usual for me to update. I even missed National Comic Book Day on Sept. 25. Oops, my bad. Since last update, X of Swords has finally started! But I won't be doing anything with that yet. This chapter and the one I plan to come out next are more fun and silly chapters. Actually this one uses Franklin Richards outside of canon because I doubt he could ever do this. So enough from me, here's your one-shot, **_**Crushin' Krakoa:**_

* * *

"You want me to, _what?"_

Rachel squinted her eyes at the former Professor, tossing over the information he just gave her.

"As I said, I want you to oversee that Franklin Richards becomes comfortable here on Krakoa." Charles repeats. This was the second time she asked him to and frankly he was tired of having her here.

"And why can't Kitty do it?" Rachel asked in clarification. After all, the phasing mutant made it her business to ensure that Franklin had a choice in coming to the island.

Charles hid his sigh and gave his response slowly and deliberately. "Kitty has just now been able to return from the dead and she has quite a lot on her hands now. I don't recommend handing the boy to her at this moment. Seeing as you are Kitty's close friend and that—"

Rachel cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Sure sure, alright. Where is he?"

Charles simply casts a look behind him where Franklin stepped out from a gnarl in the tree that was currently Charles' base of operations. It was the same place he informed Kitty about retrieving Franklin from the Fantastic Four. Franklin started to give a meek little wave before thinking better of it and straightening out. "Hey," he greets in his most casual voice. He was still wearing his FF uniform since no one on Krakoa wore casual clothing (unless you're Jubilee who's clothing always looked outlandish or you're Kid Omega and just couldn't care less.)

Franklin had gone against his parents' wishes to get here, and he was going to make an impression. But lest did he know that simply being an Omega-Level mutant was going to gain him a reputation. Those mutants are precious to Krakoa as a resource.

This time, Rachel had turned a squint on him. She hasn't seen him in a while and some things were certainly _different. _"Last time I checked," Rachel says, "You were blonde."

"Um, yeah—" Franklin briefly tossed his fingers through his hair which was now black. "Been that way for a while now actually. Like it?"

Rachel softly shook her head with distaste. "Well, this is going to be fun isn't it?" she asks sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Franklin shrugs. "It can be if you make it. You act like I'm that bad."

"It's not that," Rachel quickly amends. "It's just—" She stops mid sentence and ponders what to say. Her eyes just linger on Franklin as his eyes dart around awkwardly, waiting for her final verdict.

"You know what, the tour starts now." Rachel said instead, waving Franklin over. "Let's go Scrapper, the island isn't small." She started to walk away from Charles and Franklin followed in suit, a bounce in his step.

"Scrapper?" he questions, tilting his head. He peered around her shoulder to see if he could catch a glimpse of her expression.

Rachel had stayed silent and just brought him over to their first stop, the tiki bar. "Here we are, a favorite among Krakoans when we're not trying to liberate our kind and all that." She flicked her hand unceremoniously toward said bar with halfhearted pizazz. Franklin's gaze followed her hand and drank in the scene before him.

It was too early for drinking so only a couple of mutants were at the bar, waiting for it to open, including the barista himself who was setting up shop.

"Wow," Franklin commented. "We don't even have this in the Baxter Building. But I bet Uncle Ben and Uncle Johnny would love to. But uh, dad wouldn't let 'em…" The boy frowns, suddenly feeling sullen. He remembered what his father did to him so he wouldn't come to Krakoa. His own genetic makeup was altered so that the Krakoan gates wouldn't recognize him as a mutant. Reed Richards thought it was the right thing to do, but it backfired seeing where Franklin ended up anyway.

Rachel could sense this by barely scratching the surface of his thoughts. Slight guilt stirred up in her stomach. Perhaps she treated him too harshly. "Don't sweat it kid." she says, hesitating to put a hand on his shoulder. She then settles for just grazing it with her fingertips. "Dads are dads, sometimes they do things that are downright unfair, and sometimes…. _Downright evil."_

Rachel added the last bit rather quickly because her own father had done some pretty reprehensible things in the past few years before coming to Krakoa.

Franklin seemed to be comforted by this and offered her a smile. "Hey, thanks Red."

The name caused Rachel to almost choke on her own saliva. "Ah sorry," Rachel inhales sharply and retracts her hand. "You don't get to give me a nickname."

Franklin knit his brows together in a puzzled expression. "You called me Scrapper, _whatever that means…_"

Rachel opened her mouth to give a witty response but she had nothing. She clamped down on her jaw and face palmed. "Maybe I should take you to the quarry so you could get your ass handed to you by Wolverine or something."

"You know…" Franklin tapped his chin. "I would probably feel properly threatened if I knew what the quarry actually was."

Rachel sighed. She really didn't want to lug this kid around and explain everything to him. She actually had a job to do now, investigating mutant deaths. But instead she got to hang around with another little brother. The moment the two had previously shared went up and dispersed into the air, quickly forgotten.

"Oi vey, this is going to be a long day." Rachel alleviated the weight off her feet by levitating herself. "Come along Four and a Half, let's wrap this up before your bedtime." She turned and led him away from the bar, making a point to hit every landmark Krakoa has. Everywhere they went, Rachel explained it by speaking as little as possible. Especially for the more complicated places like where the Quiet Council met. Charles would have to fill him in on that one if he didn't already. In actuality, Rachel could've been more enthusiastic in sharing her newfound culture but that kind of enthusiasm could only be found in her mother. Prestige was having some major flashback of the New Jean Grey School where she used to teach.

After a while, Franklin got tired of her attitude and confronted her about it. "I've been nothing but nice to you, is there something wrong with me?" he asked, patting his person. "Is it because of my costume? Do I look stupid?"

Rachel shook her head and took a seat where Exodus would normally tell his stories, allowing Franklin to rest his feet. "No, it's not that." she assured him. "God, if I really have to say it, _it's not you, it's me_."

Franklin gave a light chuckle and sat down next to her, grateful to relieve his aching soles. "We haven't even started dating yet and you're going to hit me with one of those."

Rachel lazily lulled her head back to look at the sky. "Yeah, _hardy harr_—" she then pauses, her nose ever so slightly crinkling. "Oh, oh no."

Unlike her mother, Rachel had looser control over the thoughts she could pick up. In the past, sometimes she couldn't even discern a thought from words out of somebody's mouth. Finally, she spoke her own mind. "Is this what this is?" she asked. "You have a _crush _on me?"

Franklin shrank into himself, realizing she must've read his mind. He was partially embarrassed and partially upset at the violation of his privacy. "I… Well—" he stutters before getting a grip on his words. "I would like to get to know you better."

Rachel nearly threw his body to the side but she reigned in on her powers and decided not to. "Look, you're like my brother's age."

"But Cable is supposed to be an old man anyway." Franklin counters. "Aren't we together in the future where you're from?"

Rachel's face flushed.

"First of all," she began, "If I was interested in getting back with you, I wouldn't have dated Nightcrawler in the first place. That is, if you were my age."

"But I'm not." Franklin concluded.

"And—" Rachel continued, hardly letting him get more than a few words in. "You hardly know me. I know you, but you don't know me."

Franklin gives a half shrug and a cheeky boyish grin. "That's why I want to know you better."

Rachel stood abruptly, "Ooh no. No no, no." She frantically shook her head and levitated herself away, disgusted with the prospect. "Kitty needs to get her stuff together so you could hang out with you."

"But—"

"Sorry, bye Scrapper." Rachel waved and turned away from him, eager to get home and scream into a pillow or something. She'd have her space from Franklin. _Literally. _She left Powerhouse all to his lonesome, lost no doubt. He'd have to wait for someone else to turn up and show him the way back to Charles' place. Which unfortunately for him would have to be around the time Exodus comes to tell his campfire stories.

Rachel makes it home and passes her mother in the kitchen. Jean was cutting some carrots when she asked Rachel how her day went.

_"Ugh," _Rachel rolled her eyes and flopped onto the couch. She'd much rather throw on some sweatpants and a T-shirt and watch corny movies with her dad. "It was horrible." she says. She proceeds to explain having to give Franklin Richards the island tour. "He's annoying, mom."

"You didn't have to be mean to him." Jean points out. "He's just a kid."

"Exactly! It's gross, and I'm embarrassed for myself, _and _him." Rachel replied after she face-planted into a couch cushion. "I can't believe he's twelve or something, I feel nasty inside knowing I was with him."

"Even so, you could at least be his friend." Jean proposed.

_"Moooom."_

Jean shrugged without looking up from her cutting board. "Scott and I keep you kids around, don't we?"

Rachel groaned in response just as Nathan came in to make matters worse.

"Who has a crush on Rachel?" he asked, jumping onto the only free space left on the couch.

"Go away Nathan." Rachel grumbles.

"It's a free country."

"We don't live in America." Rachel counters, "And right now, we're not on Krakoa, we're on the moon."

Nathan pats Rachel's head. "You're more sour than usual."

"It's that Fantastic Four boy." Jean supplied. "He seems to like Rachel."

"Wuh-oh." Nathan smirked, "Rachel's got a boyfriend?"

Rachel peeled her head up from the cushion to deliver a smack to Nathan's face. "Shut up. You have five girlfriends." she then passes. "Oops… mom doesn't know, doesn't she?"

"I, uh—" Nathan sweat drops and glances at their mother who was narrowing her eyes at him. If Jean was like Rachel, and skimmed everyone's thoughts, she would've known a long time ago. She would've also known if her husband bothered to tell her.

"Hey!" Nathan exclaims, trying to bring the subject back to Rachel. "Isn't that kid like twelve?"

"Aren't _you _twelve?" Rachel bites in return.

"You are being unfair today." Nathan softly shook his head, lightly clicking his tongue. "Again, more so than usual."

Jean decided to put her foot down. "You two, stop it." She placed the knife she was using to the side and crossed her arms. "Rachel, tomorrow I want you to go and apologize to that boy. I'm not asking you to take him out on dates, but what you did was uncalled for." She then trained her eyes on Nathan. "Don't think that I've forgotten you either young man."

"But…"

"Nathan Christopher Charles As—"

Nathan stood up and put his hands up in self defense. "Alright, alright…" he scurries away to seek out his father's protection from his mother.

Choosing to deal with that later, Jean looked at Rachel once more. "Don't break the boy's heart." she states with a little more understanding and kindness.

"I dunno mom," Rachel turned onto her back and looked at the ceiling. "How did you ever let them down gently?"

Jean considered the brief period of time before she dated Scott, and when Angel would vie for her affections. But all she could recall is the time she came back to life originally. It was a time when Scott was married to Madelyne Prior and Nathan was just a baby. Warren thought he had his chance since he was also single but Jean shut him down. Now that she thought about it, in her adult years, Jean distinctly remembers telling Warren that if she didn't like him in the ninth grade, she wouldn't like him now.

Funnily enough, she acted similarly to Rachel but she wasn't going to let on to it.

"Just sit him down," Jean says instead, beginning to cut again. "He'll appreciate it in the long run."

Rachel sighed, "I guess you're always right."

"Mother does know best." Jean replies with a smile. _Now, to deal with that rascally Askani'son. _


	40. X-Mas but like, X-Men

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, wow, wow. I am soooo sorry for the few months that went by without any updates, and that goes across the board for all my stories. I hit an unexpected hiatus (nothing to worry about) because I lost the motivation to write. Even now I'm struggling to get back into it, but I will do my best. At the time of writing this, Swords of X has finished and Reign of X has just begun. I will not make reference to either of these in this chapter. **

**Also, since it's December, I figured a holiday special would be appropriate to help me kick things back off. Enjoy! :)**

"Dad can we get a tree?"

"No."

"But, _why?"_

"Because I said, _no_._"_

Nathan repositioned himself on the couch from the upside down position he was in and peered at his father through narrowed slits. "Why can't we get a tree? Are we secular all of a sudden?"

"I— _what?"_ Scott glanced over at his son with a puzzled expression, but Nathan just crossed his arms. Even with the question of becoming secular, Nightcrawler was creating a new religion anyway. So as Scott heard from the blue furred mutant himself. Perhaps next year Krakoans would have their own winter holiday in December.

"C'mon dad, I never got to celebrate Christmas before. We don't have that in the future!" The boy protested, changing the inflection in his tone to purposely grate on his father's ears. Scott flinched in response.

The older mutant placed one hand on hip, looking taken aback. "Nathan, you're only interested in the gifts."

Nathan scoffed, _"Psh, no… _don't make me decorate the cactus—" he said referring to the succulent Scott brought home one day. It was a symbol of their family's strength. Then Nathan grinned ear to ear, figuring just how he could get his way. He took a deep breath and at the top of his lungs he bellowed: _"Mom, dad is going to make me decorate the cactus for Christmas!"_

Scott gave his signature "deep frown" as he knew that Jean was somehow going to convince him to get a goddamn tree. Everyone in this house was against him. _Why do I even try? _Scott thought to himself.

As expected, Jean gave him a whole spiel and a guilt trip that not one of their children have gotten to celebrate with them and that, "No, just because we spent it with the older Cable, doesn't mean we spent it with little Nathan. Go get a tree, Charlie Brown."

And so he did, because he loves his wife but mostly because he didn't want Nathan to scream anymore.

The following day, Scott took Nate down to Krakoa to ask Cypher, to ask Krakoa to grow a pine tree.

"Why didn't we just go get one in America?" Nate asked his father, idly floating beside him as they made their way to Doug Ramsay. "Because," Scott replied, "Everything on Krakoa is free."

Nate raised his brows, just barely hiding them behind his bangs. "You really _are _cheap, old man."

"No," Scoff shook his head. "It's not that. You really think it'd be a good idea to go into public and try and buy a tree? Everyone will know that I'm a mutant, and more so, would instantly recognize me as Cyclops. If I sent you— and God forbid you somehow mess up— you would be instantly recognized as different because of your eye." he said all this with a certain bluntness, not once looking over at Nate.

The elder Summers child instinctively covers his glowing eye— a trait he shares with his younger brother. He was at loss for words as everything his father told him made sense, even if it hurt a little. Unfortunately, Nate hasn't used his powers rather responsibly in the past. His father's regards were well placed, but Nate wasn't a child.

Once they found Doug— who was perched up in Krakoa's branches like a child— they asked if Krakoa would do them that one favor.

"That's actually a good idea," the translator remarked thoughtfully before snapping his fingers. "Say, you think Storm, Iceman, and Krakoa can make it snow here? I think a climate change would be pretty sweet." Doug looked at Scott expectantly.

"Er, I suppose." Scott replied, not even sure of the answer itself. Sure it may be nice, but the Council would have to talk about it. "Look Doug— you think Krakoa would do it?"

Doug glanced at the tree, relaying the information Scott told him before getting a reply in the matter of minutes. "Lucky day Cyke," Doug smiled, "he said yes."

Nate narrowed his eyes and telepathically spoke to his father.

_"How do you figure that when they have been 'communicating' for five minutes?"_

Scott just softly shook his head, withholding his reply.

They stood back as a sapling quickly began to form before their eyes and a pine tree grew in its place. It was about eight feet tall, its branches fanning out to make it full, practically the most perfect Christmas tree imaginable. Thanks Krakoa, you're a real one.

Easily, Scott used an optic blast to cut the tree down, and with having Nate there, the telepath would levitate it so neither of them would have to carry it by hand.

"Thanks Doug," Scott says over his shoulder once Nate got the tree secured. The kind blonde waved his hand in response. "No need to thank me, and hey, good luck with the family festivities! Also, the snow thing—" Doug pointed finger guns and clicked his teeth. "—make it happen. Ask 'em."

"Sure thing Douglas, take care."

On their way back, Nate threw a glance back at Krakoa and Doug before looking straightforward once more. "Jesus, that guy is a nerd." he remarked and without cracking a smile, Scott replied. "He's a linguist. All he ever does is talk."

Nate let that sink in based on his father's serious delivery, after a few seconds, his eyes flickered with humor. "Did you just make a joke? Did dad do a funny?"

"No."

"Fair enough old man, I won't tell anyone you have a sense of humor."

"Uh-huh, I'm a comedian, a real standup guy."

Now Nate gave him a questioning look. "Wow, I don't know what changed since I've been gone, but now you're starting to scare me."

"Am I not allowed to be funny or sarcastic?"

Nate's tongue laid stuck in his throat, caught on his own words. "No! _You're only allowed to be my dad…" _he muttered. "And furthermore, while we're on the subject-! You're not allowed to make dad jokes… _anymore."_

"Right."

"They're not funny."

"Okay."

Nate set his brow in a straight line at Scott's responses or lack thereof when they got to the gate that led to their house. Stopping in front— tree in tow, Nate turned to look at him. "How did you _ever _score mom?"

Tilting his head at Nate's query, Scott gave his honest answer. "I don't know— have you _seen _my childhood photos?"

"That bad, huh?"

"At the time, compared to Warren, I couldn't believe she chose me. I was awkward, and stuffy…"

"Still are," Nate interjects, but Scott ignores him, and continues, "One time we went out to the park during the winter time… everyone wanted to ice skate but I didn't know how, so I played it off like I just left my skates behind. Jean ended up skating with Warren." Scott softly shook his head in amusement. "It seemed like such a big deal to me then, but now it just seems silly."

Nate listened keenly as his father opened up to him. He smiled warmly at the end, practically grinning ear to ear. "So… do you know how to skate now?" he asked, eliciting a scoff from Scott.

"Hell no." Scott waved it off as something preposterous.

"Well maybe if we can get Iceman to freeze over a lake, you should." Nate spun around to face his father squarely, his back to the Krakoan gate. They have arrived. "You could ask mom to teach you."

The two share a quiet and tender moment, Scott didn't have much of a verbal reply, but he didn't need one. _Nate could read his mind anyway, _but he won't. Not in a million lifetimes he won't. Nate cherished the moments where he could hear his father share his emotions, and even when he doesn't, Nate could just feel them. Despite all the goofs and partial reserves, Nate realized that he loved Scott deeply. Through him, Nate had a place in the world, and it was with his family.

After a bit, Scott clears his throat and gestured to the gate behind Nate, "Better head inside."

"Oh, uh, right." Nate smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck— gently pushing up the longer pieces of hair. He walked into the gate first, followed by the tree, and then Scott himself. They were greeted with the sight of Rachel sitting at a table, creating popcorn garlands with her telekinesis while filing her nails.

"Holy shit," she muttered with mild surprise, "you actually got it."

"Well I tend to do what your mother says," Scott says as he scanned the room. He pointed somewhat towards the center and near the large window that oversaw a blanket of stars. "Right there, Nate. Should be a good spot."

Earlier that day they had prepared a stand for it, so Nate used his powers to connect the two and set it up by the window. Without any decorations, it looked beautiful there enough. A picture perfect setting for some Christmas photos one might say. But Rachel would be damned if they didn't use the garlands they made. They didn't take much effort because of her powers, but still. They didn't have many ornaments either save for Krakoan trinkets found around the house— in which Nathan was put on the job. Now all they needed were lights.

"Fear not family," said a certain fire lover, entering the room. "I have just the thing to top off the festivities." He had what looked like a string of glass or crystal beads the size of pennies. "Rachel, if you will?" he arched a brow at the girl, prompting her to float to glass beads around the tree the same way she did with the popcorn garland.

Gabriel explained that he had his friend Petra— manipulate the earth, hard pressing it to form these little crystal beads. The insides were also hollow.

"So… how exactly does this solve our light problem?" Rachel asks as she finishes placing the beads onto the tree. She gives Gabriel one of her signature, questioning but slightly calculating expressions and he was happy to answer. But rather than just talk, he thought he just ought to show them.

He snapped his fingers in a needless display— he was just being extra. Instantaneously, the little beads shone with light. "Let there be light," Gabriel punctuated proudly. His little addition to the tree really made it pop.

"Wow it's starting to look—"

"Wait!" Nathan shouted as he rushed in, cutting off his sister's statement. "This isn't a Christmas tree without an angel." He provided a wooden figurine that crudely represented an angel with a small picture of Rachel's face plastered to it. He bore an innocent expression, seemingly genuine with this small gesture.

Even Rachel's eyes began to soften. "Aw Nathan you…"

"Sike!" Nathan tears off the picture and flicks it to the floor in a wide and speedy gesture. In response, Rachel's eyes then set into their normal expression.

"... You really _shouldn't _have." She scoffed and rolled her eyes, averting her gaze to the side.

Nathan seemed to think that his goof was the funniest thing he pulled in the history of ever. He even had a large goofy grin plastered to his face. "You should've seen the look on your face!" he laughs. "Priceless I tell you, absolute gold! You should've expected something was off because I would _never _be that nice to you."

"Yeah…" Rachel made unceremonious jazz hands. "You totally got me haha…" she turns to Scott with a straight face. "Can I beat him?"

"Well you know Rachel, you kids are supposed to behave this time of the year." Scott points out awkwardly, avoiding her inquiry. "At least beat him after New Year's." Nathan's mouth went wide in betrayal. "Dad!"

Unfortunately this was the moment Jean decided she wanted to be over with the family as well. "What about dad?" she asked plaintively. She held a tray of hot chocolate, hoping it would get everyone in the festive mood.

"Uh, nothing," Scott interjected quickly as she went over to her. "Smells great Hon."

Jean decidedly let whatever transpired before her go and smiled. "One for everyone, please, help yourselves."

In the matter of mere moments everyone had sprawled around the living space, lazily drinking the hot chocolate Jean made— save for Gabriel who chugged it like it was water. To any average person it might've burned their tongue and throat but he remained unphased.

They admired the tree they worked together on, and felt somewhat closer because of it. Perhaps Christmas on Krakoa was going to be a possibility after all.


End file.
